One trial, many medicines at once: a faster hunt for Alzheimer's treatments

Angela Bucksey, 67, from Cambridgeshire, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in January — and she has just become the first person treated on AD-SMART, a new UK trial built to end the old way of testing one drug at a time, over a decade or more. Instead, the trial tests several medicines side by side against a shared comparison group, quickly drops any that are not helping, and slots new ones in — a design borrowed from cancer research. First up are two familiar medicines used for other conditions: metformin, for type 2 diabetes, and atomoxetine, for ADHD, both picked by an international panel because they may calm the brain inflammation that drives the disease. Some 1,200 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's will take part at more than 30 sites across the UK, with the first verdicts expected in 2030. 'Instead of just sitting there, you're standing up and saying, I will fight back,' Angela says. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, affecting about 600,000 people in the UK.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation