Early results from a small trial of an investigative drug suggests it is safe and may improve executive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Patients performed better in cognitive testing after just 2 weeks, especially in areas of executive functioning. Clinicians involved in the study also reported improvements in patients' ability to complete daily activities, especially in complex tasks such as using a computer, carrying out household chores, and managing their medications.
Dr Aaron Koenig
"It's pretty incredible to see improvement over the course of a week to a week and a half," study investigator Aaron Koenig, MD, vice president of Early Clinical Development at Sage Therapeutics, Inc in Cambridge, Mass., told Medscape Medical News. "Not only are we seeing objective improvement, we're also seeing a subjective benefit."
The drug, SAGE-718, is also under study for MCI in patients with Huntington's disease, the drug's primary indication, and Parkinson's disease.
The findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2022 Annual Meeting on Tuesday.
Improved Executive Function
SAGE-718 is in a new class of drugs called positive allosteric modulator of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, which are thought to improve neuroplasticity.
For the phase 2a open-label LUMINARY trial, researchers enrolled 26 patients aged 50-80 years with Alzheimer's disease who had mild cognitive impairment.
