[Treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease: a breakthrough or not?]

The results of an open-label extension study of the Expedition I and II studies with solanezumab in patients with Alzheimer's disease, neither of which had shown an effect on cognition and functional ability, were recently presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto. Placebo and intervention patients with mild Alzheimer's disease from both studies were offered the option of continuing with solanezumab for 2 additional years. The data from this group were re-analysed using a new analysis technique, the so-called 'delayed start analysis'. On the basis of the re-analysis it was concluded that solanezumab does show disease-modifying activity and should be considered a promising candidate for treatment of Alzheimer's disease in the near future. This conclusion, however, is poorly supported by the data presented in the study. A more definite positioning of solanezumab will not be possible until data from the ongoing Expedition III study becomes available in 2017 at the earliest.