Butler Hospital participates in study to advance Alzheimer’s research
Butler Hospital
Providence, R.I.
The Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital participated as a clinical trial site for drug therapy that has successfully slowed cognitive decline, a key milestone in Alzheimer’s research.
The phase 2 CELIA study evaluated diranersen, an investigational treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease. The latest preliminary results showed reductions in tau pathology, a key feature of Alzheimer’s disease, along with signs of cognitive benefit. Diranersen is a tau-targeting antisense oligonucleotide therapy designed to reduce production of the tau protein, which is associated with disease progression.
Stephen Salloway, M.D., founding director of Butler Hospital’s Memory and Aging Program, served on the study steering committee and helped guide the trial. Salloway said the findings represent progress in the search for treatments that may help slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
The CELIA study enrolled more than 400 people with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease or mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia. Participants received one of three intrathecal doses of diranersen or a placebo over 76 weeks. Researchers at sites around the world evaluated the treatment’s safety, tolerability, biomarker effects and clinical outcomes.
Mary Marran, Butler Hospital’s president and chief operating officer, emphasized that participation in the study reflects the hospital’s commitment to research and expanding access to clinical trials for people with neurological diseases.