Second Alzheimer's drug in the pipeline promises to slow worsening but with safety concern

WASHINGTON (AP) — Another experimental Alzheimer’s drug can modestly slow patients’ inevitable worsening — by about four to seven months, researchers reported Monday.

Eli Lilly and Co. is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of donanemab. If cleared, it would be only the second Alzheimer’s treatment convincingly shown to delay the mind-robbing disease — after the recently approved Leqembi from Japanese drugmaker Eisai.

“Finally there's some hope, right, that we can talk about," Lilly's Dr. John Sims told reporters Monday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Amsterdam.

“We don't cure the disease,” he said. “Diabetes doesn't have a cure either — it doesn't mean you can't have very meaningful treatments for patients.”