Axios Live: Ongoing investment could further "incredible moment" in Alzheimer's treatment, experts say

WASHINGTON — Two FDA-approved drugs and new diagnostic advances are reshaping Alzheimer's care — but continued research funding is key to sustaining that progress, experts said at an Axios Live event.

Why it matters: With more Americans living with Alzheimer's disease than ever, research to improve care and prevention is vital. However, some canceled National Institutes of Health grants have raised concerns about research projects.

• Axios' Peter Sullivan spoke with Alzheimer's Association president and CEO Joanne Pike and Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) at the event, sponsored by Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD).

What they're saying: "This is such an incredible moment within Alzheimer's treatment and research and the progress that we've been making," Pike said. "The pace of that progress has really been increasing over the last few years."

The big picture: Buchanan said he is "optimistic" about Alzheimer's research at NIH, and Tonko emphasized the crucial role research plays in the continuing fight.

• "You've got to have a bipartisan willing partner, and there's a lot of people that are enthusiastic about where we're at, but more importantly, where we can be," Buchanan said. "We're going to just continue to push as much as we can."
• "I see the draconian cuts in this budget, cruel cuts, unnecessary cuts, that impact on the science-related efforts that we should make on investing in research," Tonko said. "The research component here is incredibly important. As an advocate for Alzheimer's patients and their families, their caregivers, I will do everything to help avoid those cuts."

Zoom in: The base funding at the National Institutes on Aging for Alzheimer's and dementia research currently stands at $3.8 billion, Pike said.

• "We know there have been some changes, there have been some impacts on the types of grants. We and our advocates certainly want to make sure that that $3.8 billion is held steady," Pike said, adding she has seen positive signs of a potential budget increase.
• "[W]e also know that this is a time to accelerate, we cannot slow down, and so continuing the increases within the Alzheimer's and dementia research budget is incredibly important."

What's next: The pace of progress is only going to increase over the next 18 months, Pike said.

• "We also know with some of the research trials that are going to be reporting out soon, that this progress is not only about the monoclonal antibodies for amyloid-beta, but we're also looking at other targets, the potential for combination therapy," she said.

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In a View From the Top conversation, PFCD policy director Candace DeMatteis said the breakthroughs in treatments and diagnostics for Alzheimer's in recent years are going to make a big difference.

• "We're all eager for the cure, the thing that stops it in its tracks … but it's so important to recognize how far we've come, the decades of experience that have led up to this, the billions of dollars that have been invested to get us to this pace, but that pace is accelerating and we are moving forward," DeMatteis said. " … We just need the policy candidly to keep pace with that."