US drugmakers have nearly 100 medicines in development for Alzheimer's

The USA’s biopharmaceutical companies are researching 98 medicines for dementia, mostly Alzheimer’s, according to a report released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). All 98 are either in clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration. The work indicates a major commitment to Alzheimer’s, given that each new medicine costs, on average, more than $1 billion to research and develop.

According to the PhRMA, the 98 new dementia treatments currently in research at its member companies include:

* an oral drug that inhibits the formation and accumulation of amyloid-beta protein deposits and may also reduce tau protein from forming neurofibrillary tangles in the brain;