On 5 April, Anavex Life Sciences Corp, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for central nervous system disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), presented data from its ATTENTION-AD trial at the AD/PD 2025 Conference in Vienna, Austria. The ATTENTION-AD Phase 2b/3 study is a global, multicenter open-label extension trial of oral blarcamesine for early AD with a duration of 96 weeks for participants in Canada and Europe and up to 144 weeks for participants in Australia, aiming to evaluate the safety and tolerability of blarcamesine and long-term effects of blarcamesine on cognition and function. Findings demonstrated that over 3 years of continuous treatment with blarcamesine a significant amelioration on clinical decline showing continued clinically and meaningful benefit for people with early AD.
Prespecified delayed-start analysis also suggested disease-modifying effect of oral blarcamesine and a continued blarcamesine treatment, without interruption, for a more favourable clinical outcome. Additionally, blarcamesine exhibited a favourable safety profile with the majority of adverse events mild to moderate in severity. There were no deaths related to the study drug. Currently, 74 participants are receiving blarcamesine through the Compassionate Use Program, with some participants on treatment once daily for over 9 years. No severe or life-threatening adverse events were attributed to blarcamesine.