Eli Lilly and Company and AstraZeneca, who previously partnered to study an investigational treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, have announced the enrollment of the first patient in the study, called AMARANTH. The Phase II/III study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral beta secretase cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor, AZD3293.
The drug currently in study, known either as AZD3293 or LY3314814, is meant to block BACE, which is the an enzyme responsible for the development of Alzheimer’s Disease. By doing so, researchers expect a notable reduction in the formation of plaques of amyloid beta in the brain – one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.
The phase II and III trials will evaluate the safety and efficacy of AZD3293/ LY3314814 compared to a placebo during a two-year treatment period of more than 1,500 Alzheimer’s patients, across 15 different countries. In addition, the two companies recently reported encouraging results from a Phase I study, conducted with both Alzheimer’s patients and healthy participants, demonstrating the effectiveness of the drug in reducing the levels of amyloid-beta in the cerebro-spinal fluid.
The Alois Alzheimer Foundation 