Alzheimer's Disease Health Center

Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Shows Promise

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Catherine Roe, an assistant professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, described Rouru's research as "impressive."

"This is really a new approach, in terms of the biology that they're targeting," she noted. "And they showed significant results after only three months of treatment, which is exciting particularly because this drug combination was tested on people who had moderate Alzheimer's disease."

Many experts have thought moderate Alzheimer's disease would be untreatable, she said. "By the time it's that advanced, the nerves have already died and it would be too late to do anything about memory by this stage," she explained.

Still, much more testing will need to be done, Roe cautioned. "And these results will have to be replicated with other groups of people," she said. "But if they can do that, this would be awesome."

The data and conclusions of research presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.