Alzheimer's drug fails studies

By INDIANAPOLIS -- A possible Alzheimer's disease treatment from drugmaker Eli Lilly missed the main goals of two late-stage studies, but the treatment showed some potential for slowing memory decline in patients with mild cases of the mind-robbing condition.. Shares of Eli Lilly climbed Friday after the Indianapolis company announced what could be a step toward a long-awaited breakthrough in the fight against a disease that has no cure and is ultimately fatal. But doctors and Eli Lilly officials cautioned against overreacting to the study's initial results.. Eli Lilly said Friday that its treatment, solanezumab, failed to slow cognitive decline, which involves a person's ability to remember things, in two late-stage studies of about 1,000 patients each. But when data from the trials were combined, scientists saw a statistically significant slowing of the rate of cognitive decline in that bigger population.. They also saw a statistically significant result when they examined a subgroup of patients with mild cases of Alzheimer's disease. The studies focused on patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's cases.. About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, a term for brain disorders that affect memory, judgment and other mental functions. Alzheimer's is the most common type. In the United States, more than 5 million people have Alzheimer's, which is the country's sixth-leading cause of death.. Lilly officials cautioned Friday that their study did not show that solanezumab slowed the progression of Alzheimer's. It showed signs of slowing cognitive decline, one of many ways the disease impacts a person's mind. Even so, they were encouragedAugust 24, 2012

-- AP