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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Alzheimer's study sparks a new round of debate over the amyloid hypothesis [statnews.com]

In the long-running debate over just what causes Alzheimer's disease, one side looks to have scored a victory with new results with an in-development drug [statnews.com]. But there's enough variation in the data to ensure that the squabbling factions of Alzheimer's will have plenty to fight about.

At issue is the so-called amyloid hypothesis, a decades-old theory claiming that Alzheimer's gradual degradation of the brain is caused by the accumulation of sticky plaques. And the new drug is BAN2401, designed by Biogen and Eisai to prevent those amyloid plaques from clustering and attack the clumps that already have.

In data presented last week, one group of patients receiving BAN2401 saw their amyloid levels plummet, a result that was tied to a significant reduction in cognitive decline compared with placebo.

[...] But to skeptics, the trial was laden with confounding details that make it impossible to draw conclusions. "These results are a mess," wrote Baird biotech analyst Brian Skorney. "Not so much that they indicate an outright failure of the [amyloid] hypothesis, but they don't really say anything informative at all."

Related: Alzheimer's Disease: A "Whole Body" Problem? [soylentnews.org]
Evidence That Alzheimer's Protein Spreads Like an Infection [soylentnews.org]
Pfizer Halts Research Into Alzheimer's and Parkinson's; Axovant Sciences Abandons Intepirdine [soylentnews.org]
Positive Result in Mice as Alzheimer's Drug Trials Fail and Regulatory Barriers Are Rolled Back [soylentnews.org]

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