On 3 June 2025, Alzheimer Europe held a lunch debate in the European Parliament in Brussels (Belgium), entitled “Preparing for new Alzheimer’s treatments in Europe” attended by national member organisations, civil society representatives, industry partners, policy makers and members of the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) and the European Dementia Carers Working Group (EDCWG). The event was attended by almost 100 people, including nine Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
Three Co-Chairs of the European Alzheimer’s Alliance (EAA) jointly hosted the session, Sirpa Pietikäinen MEP (Finland), Romana Jerković MEP (Croatia) and Hilde Vautmans MEP (Belgium). We are hugely grateful to each of them for their support and for welcoming us and our guests to this important event.
The session opened with welcome words from Sirpa Pietikäinen MEP (pictured, bottom left) who stated that the “EU must step up! By working decisively together on research, development, and clinical trials, we can lead the discovery of new treatments for Alzheimer’s and other memory-disabling diseases.”
Romana Jerković MEP (pictured, bottom centre) then spoke to delegates, saying "Alzheimer’s disease is a growing challenge for the European Union. As new treatments begin to emerge, we cannot ignore the persistent issue of late and underdiagnosis. Millions across Europe are suffering in silence and we owe them political focus, investment, and a coordinated response that matches the scale of this crisis."
Hilde Vautmans MEP (pictured, bottom right) shared that her interest in Alzheimer’s came from her personal experience with her father who passed away with Alzheimer’s dementia. She said "Europe must lead the way in transforming Alzheimer’s care. With innovative projects and new treatments, we have a unique chance to shift from late reaction to early action: offering patients not just more years, but better ones."
After these introductory words, the first of our three speakers, Sebastiaan Engelborghs (Co-Chairperson, European Alzheimer’s Disease Consortium, Belgium) presented on “The advent of disease-modifying treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease in Europe”. He provided an update on the role of amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease and the development of anti-amyloid treatments. His key message was that, through the registration of the first disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease in Europe, we are entering a new era, demonstrating that research pays off.
Up next, Linus Jönsson (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden) spoke about “Preparing for a new era of precision medicine in Europe – the contribution of the PROMINENT project”. His presentation gave an overview of the aims of the IHI-funded PROMINENT project, aiming to develop a digital platform for precision medicine to improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative disease and co-morbidities. He emphasised that “New diagnostic and treatment advances will improve care for Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Decision support tools like those from IHI-PROMINENT will help clinicians apply these innovations effectively, ensuring better outcomes for patients and greater value for society.”
The third and final speaker was Miia Kivipelto (University of Eastern Finland, Finland), whose talk on “New opportunities for early detection, prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease – the objectives of the AD-RIDDLE project” gave an update on AD-RIDDLE, which aims to develop a toolbox platform concept to enable healthcare systems and practitioners to improve the management of AD and dementia across diverse patient population. She noted that "The Alzheimer’s disease field is at a turning point. AD-RIDDLE bridges scientific innovation and clinical practice with a flexible toolbox platform featuring validated blood biomarkers, digital cognitive assessments, and tailored lifestyle or pharmacological interventions for early detection and prevention."
Sirpa Pietikäinen MEP thanked the speakers and gave the floor to some of her fellow Parliamentarians in attendance, EAA members Michał Szczerba MEP (Poland), Tomáš Zdechovský MEP (Czechia), Tsvetelina Penkova MEP (Bulgaria), Nikos Papandreou MEP (Greece) and Nina Carberry MEP (Ireland), giving each of them a moment to address delegates and highlight why dementia is important to them, how they advocate for people with dementia and for national dementia plans in their countries and where gaps exist, at national level and across the EU.
Alzheimer Europe thanks all the co-hosts, speakers, delegates and also its Gold and Silver sponsors for making this event possible. Our next European Parliament Lunch Debate will take place on 2 December.