Health leaders at the 2013 G8 Dementia Summit in London decided to develop a disease-modifying therapy specifically for Alzheimer's disease by the year 2025, a date which leaders now believe needs to be modified to a more realistic goal.
Alzheimer’s and related conditions significantly affect the lives of patients as well as their caregivers, adding a major burden to global health care systems. This is why health leaders have pushed to resolve Alzheimer’s and dementia by the year 2025.
Unfortunately, a paper in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy has reported that with current research trends, only a handful of disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s may be approved and accessible to patients by the goal year. According to the paper, “Drug Development in Alzheimer’s Disease: The Path to 2025,” there are multiple struggles, realities and challenges in developing drugs for Alzheimer’s.
"In order to have disease-modifying therapies available by 2025, significant changes need to be made in the areas of research and clinical development," Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas, said. "If we do not take immediate action to address the way we approach Alzheimer's disease, we will be doing a disservice not only to the many people around the world who are or will be impacted by this devastating disease, but also to our health care systems."
