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Alzheimer's disease: clinical trials and drug development
Mangialasche F, Solomon A, Winblad B, Mecocci P, Kivipelto M.. The Lancet. Neurology, 2010-07-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in elderly people. Research into Alzheimer's disease therapy has been at least partly successful in terms of developing symptomatic treatments, but has also had several failures in terms of developing disease-modifying therapies. These successes and failures have led to debate about the potential deficiencies in our understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and potential pitfalls in diagnosis, choice of therapeutic targets, development of drug candidates, and design of clinical trials. Many clinical and experimental studies are ongoing, but we need to acknowledge that a single cure for Alzheimer's disease is unlikely to be found and that the approach to drug development for this disorder needs to be reconsidered. Preclinical research is constantly providing us with new information on pieces of the complex Alzheimer's disease puzzle, and an analysis of this information might reveal patterns of pharmacological interactions instead of single potential drug targets. Several promising randomised controlled trials are ongoing, and the increased collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, basic researchers, and clinical researchers has the potential to bring us closer to developing an optimum pharmaceutical approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Key findings
- Research into Alzheimer's disease therapy has been at least partly successful in terms of developing symptomatic treatments, but has also had several failures in terms of developing disease-modifying therapies.
- These successes and failures have led to debate about the potential deficiencies in our understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and potential pitfalls in diagnosis, choice of therapeutic targets, development of drug candidates, and design of clinical trials.
- Many clinical and experimental studies are ongoing, but we need to acknowledge that a single cure for Alzheimer's disease is unlikely to be found and that the approach to drug development for this disorder needs to be reconsidered.
- Preclinical research is constantly providing us with new information on pieces of the complex Alzheimer's disease puzzle, and an analysis of this information might reveal patterns of pharmacological interactions instead of single potential drug targets.
- Several promising randomised controlled trials are ongoing, and the increased collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, basic researchers, and clinical researchers has the potential to bring us closer to developing an optimum pharmaceutical approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matters
This review discusses the successes and failures of Alzheimer's disease clinical trials and drug development. It states that a single cure is unlikely and that drug development approaches need reconsideration, but it does not report a new treatment or cure.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 60/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Lancet. Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | The Lancet Neurology: journal h-index 457 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,220 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 67.8 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 52.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 22 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 130 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Miia Kivipelto: h-index 107 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 20610346) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 60 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Mangialasche, F., Solomon, A., Winblad, B., Mecocci, P., & Kivipelto, M. (2010). Alzheimer's disease: clinical trials and drug development. The Lancet. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(10)70119-8
Vancouver
Mangialasche F, Solomon A, Winblad B, Mecocci P, Kivipelto M. Alzheimer's disease: clinical trials and drug development. The Lancet. Neurology. 2010. doi:10.1016/s1474-4422(10)70119-8. PMID: 20610346.
BibTeX
@article{mangialasche2010-20610346,
author = {Mangialasche, F. and Solomon, A. and Winblad, B. and Mecocci, P. and Kivipelto, M.},
title = {{Alzheimer's disease: clinical trials and drug development}},
journal = {The Lancet. Neurology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1016/s1474-4422(10)70119-8},
pmid = {20610346},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(10)70119-8}
}
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