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Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2018
Cummings J, Lee G, Ritter A, Zhong K.. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.), 2018-05-03
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Introduction Treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are needed due to the growing number of individuals with preclinical, prodromal, and dementia forms of AD. Drug development for AD therapies can be examined by inspecting the drug development pipeline as represented on clinicaltrials.gov. Methods Clinicaltrials.gov was assessed as of January 30, 2018 to determine AD therapies represented in phase I, phase II, and phase III. Results There are 112 agents in the current AD treatment pipeline. There are 26 agents in 35 trials in phase III, 63 agents in 75 trials in phase II, and 23 agents in 25 trials in phase I. A review of the mechanisms of actions of the agents in the pipeline shows that 63% are disease-modifying therapies, 22% are symptomatic cognitive enhancers, and 12% are symptomatic agents addressing neuropsychiatric and behavioral changes. Trials in phase III are larger and longer than phase II or phase I trials, particularly those involving disease-modifying agents. Comparison with the 2017 pipeline shows that there are four new agents in phase III, 14 in phase II, and eight in phase I. Inspection of the use of biomarkers as revealed on clinicaltrials.gov shows that amyloid biomarkers are used as entry criterion in 14 phase III disease-modifying agent trials and 17 disease-modifying agent trials in phase II. Twenty-one trials of disease-modifying agents in phase II did not require biomarker confirmation for AD at trial entry. Discussion The AD drug development pipeline is slightly larger in 2018 than in 2017. Trials increasingly include preclinical and prodromal populations. There is an increase in nonamyloid mechanisms of action for drugs in earlier phases of drug development. Biomarkers are increasingly used in AD drug development but are not used uniformly for AD diagnosis confirmation.
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APA 7th
Cummings, J., Lee, G., Ritter, A., & Zhong, K. (2018). Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2018. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2018.03.009
Vancouver
Cummings J, Lee G, Ritter A, Zhong K. Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2018. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). 2018. doi:10.1016/j.trci.2018.03.009. PMID: 29955663.
BibTeX
@article{cummings2018-29955663,
author = {Cummings, J. and Lee, G. and Ritter, A. and Zhong, K.},
title = {{Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2018}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (New York, N. Y.)},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1016/j.trci.2018.03.009},
pmid = {29955663},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2018.03.009}
}
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Key findings
- Results There are 112 agents in the current AD treatment pipeline.
- Inspection of the use of biomarkers as revealed on clinicaltrials.gov shows that amyloid biomarkers are used as entry criterion in 14 phase III disease-modifying agent trials and 17 disease-modifying agent trials in phase II.
Why it matters
As of January 30, 2018, there were 112 agents in the Alzheimer's disease treatment pipeline, with 63% being disease-modifying therapies. Amyloid biomarkers were used as entry criterion in 14 phase III disease-modifying agent trials and 17 disease-modifying agent trials in phase II.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 54/100
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 (Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia Translational Research & Clinical Interventions: journal h-index 84 (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 | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 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 | 6 / 7 | Cited 701 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 70.1 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 79.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 23 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 86 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Kate Zhong: h-index 26 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Cleveland Clinic: institution h-index 1,139 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29955663) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.trci.2018.03.009
- PubMed: 29955663
- Original source →
- Free full text: Alzheimer s & Dementia Translational Research & Clinical Interventions →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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