Published : 06 Sep 2026, 01:35 AM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:47 AM
Healthy middle-aged people considered at higher risk of Alzheimer's will be offered an experimental drug aimed at halting the disease before symptoms emerge as part of a new international clinical trial, The Guardian reports.
The trial, run by an NHS trust as part of a global dementia prevention effort, will recruit around 1,600 people aged 55 to 80 worldwide. The Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust will screen the first European participants on Monday.
UK participants will first be tested to confirm they have no memory problems, then offered a blood test for p-tau217, a biomarker linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer's. Previous research found those with the highest levels had a 78 percent chance of developing cognitive impairment within 10 years, while such tests can identify Alzheimer's with up to 95 percent accuracy.
The phase III trial, called PrevenTRON, will test whether a new drug, Trontinemab, given to those with elevated p-tau217 levels, can prevent dementia from developing at all. Trontinemab, made by Roche, targets amyloid plaques, a toxic protein that builds up in the brain and gradually kills brain cells.
The drug has been called groundbreaking after early research found it cleared amyloid plaques in nine out of 10 people with early-stage Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment within 28 weeks.
Prof Ramin Nilforooshan, the trial's chief investigator, said the study marks a shift from treating Alzheimer's to preventing it. "For decades, research has focused on treating Alzheimer's disease after symptoms appear. PrevenTRON addresses a different question: whether we can act earlier, before symptoms begin," he told The Guardian.
He said such trials could help millions of people, but cautioned, in comments to The Telegraph, that the treatment remains unproven. "I'm not saying this trial is magic. It's an investigational medicine. We need to wait and see: will it work or not?"
At least 15 UK hospitals and clinics are expected to join the study by year's end, led by the Surrey and Borders Partnership Trust. The trial will run four to six years, with participants randomly given either Trontinemab or a placebo and monitored for signs of dementia.
Alzheimer's is thought to develop in the brain up to 10 years before symptoms prompt people to seek help, The Guardian stated. It affects one in 14 people over 65 and one in six over 80.
