
Lilly’s drug for early Alzheimer’s shows promising results
Ella Day | August 6, 2025 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development | Alzheimer's, Eli Lilly, Neurology, dementia
Eli Lilly (Lilly) has announced positive new data from the long-term extension of its phase 3 study, showing that Kisunla (donanemab-azbt) continues to slow cognitive decline in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease over three years. This supports its use as a limited-duration treatment with long-lasting effects and highlights the importance of diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s early.
The results were presented at the 2025 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, Canada, and showed that patients who began treatment with Kisunla earlier experienced more sustained clinical benefit compared to those who started later. The therapy reduced cognitive decline by 1.2 points on the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes at 36 months compared to an untreated matched group from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.
Kisunla is a monoclonal antibody that targets amyloid plaques in the brain. Over 75% of patients in the study reached amyloid clearance within 76 weeks of starting treatment. Importantly, the treatment’s benefits were maintained after completion, with slow rates of amyloid reaccumulation and no new safety concerns emerging during the three-year follow-up.
“Participants continued to show meaningful outcomes, reinforcing the long-term value of early intervention,” said Mark Mintun, group vice president for neuroscience R&D at Lilly.
Ella Day
6/8/25
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