Can Monoclonal Antibodies Cure Alzheimer’s?

The earlier symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease include a progressive loss of recent memory, and gradually increasing confusion of time and space. Images showing different pathways in the brain through color. Image: Anastasia Yendiki, Ph.D., Viviana Siless, Ph.D., MGH/Harvard, Boston Adolescent Neuroimaging of Depression and Anxiety (BANDA)

By Robin Seaton Jefferson

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything in the last year, it’s the enormous role that antibodies play in keeping us not only alive but well. Antibodies — proteins produced by the body’s immune systems — destroy harmful substances like bacteria, toxins, cancer cells, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It’s also possible to produce antibodies synthetically, known as monoclonal antibodies.

While studies continue at an astonishing pace for ways to prevent, treat, or even cure COVID-19, researchers are discovering that synthetic therapeutics for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are also showing promise. Some of the key clinical trials for these new therapies, known as anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies, are coming to an end.

Could monoclonal antibodies become an effective treatment option to prevent, treat, and perhaps cure Alzheimer’s disease? When is the FDA expected to decide whether or not to approve these novel therapeutics? Read the full story here.