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Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2025
Jeffrey L Cummings, Yadi Zhou, Garam Lee, Kate Zhong, Jorge Fonseca, Amanda M Leisgang-Osse, Feixiong Cheng. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.), 2025-06-03
Topic: Drug trials: efficacy and safety
UNLABELLED: Clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease (AD) must be registered on clinicaltrials.gov. The registry presents a variety of types of information related to the planned clinical trial. We assess clinicaltrials.gov to document and compare aspects of drug development across the AD pipeline. Currently, there are 138 drugs being assessed in 182 clinical trials in the AD pipeline. Biological disease-targeted therapies (DTTs) comprise 30% of the pipeline; small molecule DTTs account for 43% of the pipeline; drugs addressing cognitive enhancement account for 14% of the pipeline; and drugs aiming to ameliorate neuropsychiatric symptoms in participants with AD contribute 11% of the pipeline. Biomarkers are among the primary outcomes of 27% of active trials. Repurposed agents represent 33% of the pipeline agents. The pipeline has more trials and more drugs compared to the 2024 pipeline. HIGHLIGHTS: The 2025 Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline hosts 182 trials and 138 novel drugs.The 2025 Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline is diverse, with agents that address 15 basic disease processes.The 2025 Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline has more trials and more drugs than the 2024 pipeline.Biomarkers play an important role in current trials to determine trial eligibility and as outcomes of trials.Repurposed agents comprise approximately one-third of the agents and trials in the 2025 Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Cummings, J. L., Zhou, Y., Lee, G., Zhong, K., Fonseca, J., Leisgang-Osse, A. M., et al. (2025). Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2025. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). https://doi.org/10.1002/trc2.70098
Vancouver
Cummings JL, Zhou Y, Lee G, Zhong K, Fonseca J, Leisgang-Osse AM, et al. Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2025. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). 2025. doi:10.1002/trc2.70098. PMID: 40463637.
BibTeX
@article{cummings2025-40463637,
author = {Cummings, Jeffrey L and Zhou, Yadi and Lee, Garam and Zhong, Kate and Fonseca, Jorge and Leisgang-Osse, Amanda M and Cheng, Feixiong},
title = {{Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2025}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (New York, N. Y.)},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1002/trc2.70098},
pmid = {40463637},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/trc2.70098}
}
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Key findings
- The pipeline has more trials and more drugs compared to the 2024 pipeline.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
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. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 26 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 46 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 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 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40463637) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 26 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 26 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 46 out of 100. |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
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