Alzheimer's Drug from Pfizer, J&J may be Safer Than Previously Thought

Two separate studies conducted by American researchers have found that the experimental Alzheimer’s drug developed by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson might be safer than earlier thought. Both the studies reached to the conclusion that vasogenic edema, a brain swelling condition that saw initially thought to be serious, would decrease over a period of time. The first study was conducted by Dr Steven Salloway of Butler Hospital and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, who tested the drug on 194 patients with 86 of them receiving it for three years and 43 for at least four year.

Dr Salloway found that nearly a quarter of the patients suffered from side effects that could be attributed to the drug though over 85 percent of them were moderate or mild. He also found that vasogenic edema lessened over the time with the risk dropping from 6.7 percent for the first three doses to 2.7 percent for infusions fourth to tenth.

The study was presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Paris.

A separate study was conducted by Dr Reisa Sperling of Harvard Medical School who analyzed over 2,000 MRI scans of 262 patients who participated in mid-stage studies of the drug

The researchers found 36 cases of amyloid deposits in the brains of the patients, but revealed that none had symptoms of ARIA-E or Amyloid Related Imaging Abnormalities with Parenchymal Edema.

Source-Medindia