New drug offers hope for Alzheimer's victims

The new drug, bapineuzumab, works by removing protein deposits from the brain that are associated with the disease.

In the study half of the 240 Alzheimer's patients were given the drug while the other half were given a placebo and the researchers say although the drug did not reach statistical goals it did prove to be relatively effective when given to patients diagnosed with the degenerative brain disorder.

Bapineuzumab is the latest drug to show promise in slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's and is one of 23 paths that drug company Wyeth is currently exploring in its quest for a treatment for the devastating disease.

The interim results showed that patients given the new drug showed less loss of brain volume among treated patients compared with those given a placebo.

Even though the study did not meet its primary goals because the drug did not appear to have the same effect on patients with the ApoE4 gene, the results are considered positive.

A phase 3 involving 4,100 Alzheimer's patients at 350 study sites will now go ahead and if approved, bapineuzumab could represent a significant advance over current Alzheimer's treatments, which can temporarily improve symptoms, but do not attack the underlying process.