How A Timely Alzheimer's Diagnosis Can Accelerate New Treatments

Even after the memory problems and other symptoms begin, it typically takes more than four years for a person with Alzheimer’s disease to receive a diagnosis—and more than half of people with Alzheimer’s never do.

Lilly has set out to change how Alzheimer’s is diagnosed and treated. While there is no cure for this devastating disease, a timely and accurate diagnosis can improve patients’ chances to benefit from current treatments and participate in clinical trials.

Lilly’s neurodegeneration team has unlocked new ways to conduct trials with the use of diagnostic tools that can directly view and measure pathological proteins in the brain—helping physicians diagnose patients earlier and with greater confidence.

The New York Times profiled three people who have joined a Lilly clinical trial for Alzheimer’s. This trial uses special scans called PET (positron emission tomography) to help doctors identify which patients have Alzheimer’s—and are most likely to benefit from an experimental medicine—and which do not.

One woman interviewed by The Times is just 63 and began experiencing memory problems a few years ago. She and her husband thought it was due to stress from her job. But even after she left her job, her memory problems persisted. She would forget appointments and items on her grocery list.

Patients often face many barriers to participating in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s, as described by the Times. Even if they’re diagnosed, patients may not hear about clinical trials unless their doctors are part of a research network.

Earlier diagnosis is critical because recent scientific studies have shown Alzheimer’s begins damaging the brain 10-20 years before symptoms appear. Unfortunately, our health-care systems haven’t kept pace with these scientific advances. They typically treat Alzheimer’s after the damage becomes impossible to ignore—and often past the stage of clinical trial eligibility.

With more than 30 years of dedication to finding solutions for Alzheimer’s, Lilly is proud of our progress to advance the science for this devastating disease. Lilly’s neurodegeneration pipeline reflects innovation, investments and collaborations aimed at the entire spectrum of Alzheimer’s, including disease-modifying therapies that target the underlying causes of the disease, symptomatic therapies, and imaging and blood biomarkers to support the potential for earlier detection.

Lilly is committed to pursuing the best possible outcomes for the Alzheimer’s disease community, which is why we support policies that enable patient access to advanced diagnostics for Alzheimer’s and enable improved training of health care providers to diagnose Alzheimer’s.

We believe accelerating the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can help accelerate the arrival of innovative treatments. We are encouraged by the many exciting scientific advances made in the fight against Alzheimer’s. We remain hopeful for patients and their families.

Information about Lilly’s Alzheimer’s clinical trials can be found at lillytrialguide.com.