Alzheimer’s Disease (Mild to Moderate) – Amid Substantial Unmet Need, What Clinical Improvements Do Neurologists and Payers Expect of Novel Symptomatic and First-to-Market Disease-Modifying Therapies? | Decision Base | US/EU5 | 2015
Amid Substantial Unmet Need, What Clinical Improvements Do Neurologists and Payers Expect of Novel Symptomatic and First-to-Market Disease-Modifying Therapies?
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will pose a considerable healthcare strain on the seven major pharmaceutical markets under study, where the population will surpass 10 million prevalent cases by 2023. Currently available symptomatic therapies offer only modest, short-term benefits, and none can prevent, stop, or even modify the progression of AD. The rapidly growing AD patient population and the high unmet need for bona fide disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that can deliver long-term benefits support a considerable and largely untapped commercial opportunity. Despite repeated failures among investigational DMTs, the race to unlock this opportunity in AD continues to attract pharmaceutical companies to develop the first DMTs for the treatment of mild, mild to moderate, or early AD, of which several are in late-stage trials. However, surveyed neurologists and interviewed thought leaders also remain eager for superior clinical benefits from emerging symptomatic therapies—an opportunity that may be more realistically fulfilled in the near term. Ultimately, any novel therapy that demonstrates efficacy in AD patients would be a welcome addition to the treatment algorithm.