Clinical trial participant’s autopsy and brain exam stoke Alzheimer’s drug fears | Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
A full autopsy and detailed examination of the brain of a 79-year-old Florida woman who died after receiving lecanemab, an experimental Alzheimer’s therapy, in a pivotal clinical trial has deepened some researchers’ concerns that it poses serious risks for patients who share the woman’s hard-to-diagnose, preexisting condition.
The patient’s history and autopsy “strongly suggests that lecanemab infusions were a catalyst leading to the events resulting in her death,” says Vanderbilt University pathologist Hannah Harmsen, co-author of a recently completed case report, which Science has obtained. The authors say the woman’s fatal brain swelling and hemorrhaging likely resulted when the drug, a monoclonal antibody, attacked the abnormal protein deposits that had built up in her blood vessels.
Science | AAAS
A full autopsy and detailed examination of the brain of a 79-year-old Florida woman who died after receiving lecanemab, an experimental Alzheimer’s therapy, in a pivotal clinical trial has deepened some researchers’ concerns that it poses serious risks for patients who share the woman’s hard-to-diagnose, preexisting condition.
The patient’s history and autopsy “strongly suggests that lecanemab infusions were a catalyst leading to the events resulting in her death,” says Vanderbilt University pathologist Hannah Harmsen, co-author of a recently completed case report, which Science has obtained. The authors say the woman’s fatal brain swelling and hemorrhaging likely resulted when the drug, a monoclonal antibody, attacked the abnormal protein deposits that had built up in her blood vessels.