Washington, D.C. (July 18, 2019) – UsAgainstAlzheimer’s chairman and co-founder George Vradenburg today released the following statement regarding the termination of Amgen and Novartis’s Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Generation Program. 

“Our hearts go out in gratitude to the patients battling Alzheimer’s who participated in this clinical trial, along with their families and caregivers, all of whom had great hope in the face of adversity. We also thank the scientists who carried out the trials. UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is proud to have supported their efforts by reviewing and tailoring study recruitment materials for outreach and engagement of Latino and African American populations disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s.

“This story of failure, however, has become far too common. Too many patients and their families are waiting for better treatments and a cure. For a country that has ‘cured the incurable’ before, this waiting must end.  We call for greater urgency on the part of government, pharmaceutical companies and the finance sector.  Millions of people die each year here and abroad from causes related to Alzheimer’s.

“This highly disappointing though unsurprising news emphasizes the importance of and to the research enterprise and pharmaceutical manufacturers looking beyond the amyloid hypothesis and diversifying the drug development pipeline if we are going to achieve our national goal of achieving an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s by 2025. 

“In light of our increasing understanding that disrupting the buildup of amyloid plaques is not the exclusive means of modifying disease progression, we must see a demonstrated commitment in public and private capital markets to support pharmaceutical manufacturers and biotechnology firms to advance a more diversified drug development pipeline, more fully explore non-pharmacological means of prevention, and take as many diversified ‘shots on goal’ as possible to get to a cure. We must also ensure that private sector innovators and investors remain committed to pursuing a cure, which may require looking at new incentives, and that Congress appropriates to the National Institutes of Health requisite funds to permit the National Institute on Aging to finance more — and more diversified — approaches to preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s.”