Alzheimer’s wonder drug a step closer

Trials success for Scots prof’s medication

AN ALZHEIMER’S wonder drug invented in Scotland has moved a step closer after human trials.

Researchers found LMTX, which destroys the tau proteins that kill neurons, can dramatically slow mental decline in just nine months.

In some patients, the rate of decline returned to that seen in elderly people with healthy brains, scientists said.

The results were achieved in an international study of 800 participants, who took a 4mg pill twice daily.

But in a twist, it found the potentially revolutionary medication does not work when taken in combination with current dementia drugs, which only target the disease’s symptoms and not its cause.

LMTX was invented by University of Aberdeen professor Claude Wischik. It has been developed by TauRx Pharmaceuticals, the spin-off company he co-founded in 2002.

Early testing showed it could slow the onset of the disease by up to two years.

The latest study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, follows a similar trial earlier this year that suggested LMTX could be effective even at low doses.

Wischik said: “The confirmation of the same pattern of results in the second independent study means they are unlikely to be a chance finding.”

The news will offer hope to more than 520,000 Brits with Alzheimer’s, the main form of dementia.

TauRx now aim to develop LMTX, which is due to undergo further trials, as a single treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.

Journal editor Professor George Perry, dean of sciences at Texas University, said: “These highly significant results support further validation of tau-based therapy in Alzheimer’s disease.”