Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust says it has become the first in Europe to join a trial examining if a new drug can delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s. The Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is offering the drug Trontinemab to people at high risk of developing the disease and is the third site worldwide to do so. The clinical trial is recruiting 1,600 healthy adults aged 55 to 80 internationally, with the Surrey and north east Hampshire trust recruiting participants from anywhere in the UK.
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
People without memory loss will be offered an experimental Alzheimer’s drug that could stop the development of the condition before dementia symptoms emerge. Healthy middle-aged people deemed to have a higher risk of developing the condition will be eligible to participate in the trial, which is being run by an NHS trust as part of an international clinical trial aiming to prevent dementia. The first European participants in the trial, which is recruiting about 1,600 people aged 55 to 80 from around the world, will be screened on Monday by the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS foundation trust. Participants from across the UK will be tested to check that they have no memory problems, before being offered a blood test to assess whether they have p-tau217, a biomarker that can predict cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s.
Biomarker p-tau217
Previous research found people with the highest levels of p-tau217 had an estimated 78% chance of developing cognitive impairment within 10 years. Research has also showed that blood tests measuring p-tau217 could identify Alzheimer’s disease with up to 95% accuracy. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and accounts for 60% to 80% of the country’s dementia cases, according to the NHS. The progressive condition affects multiple brain functions. Symptoms typically develop gradually over many years and eventually become more severe. The new drug attacks a sticky gunk called beta amyloid that builds up in the spaces between brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers will use blood tests to identify people who are most likely to benefit from participating in the trial, the trust said.
Trontinemab Phase 2 Trial Results
Roche’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug, trontinemab, has cleared harmful protein deposits from the brains of nine out of 10 patients within 28 weeks, giving fresh hope in the search for treatments that can slow memory loss. Alzheimer’s disease is a condition that gradually damages the brain and makes it harder for people to remember things, think clearly and carry out everyday activities. One of the things that happens in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s is that a protein called amyloid builds up and forms sticky clumps, known as plaques. These plaques can damage brain cells over time. Trontinemab is designed to help the body remove these plaques from the brain. In simple terms, the drug acts like a guided clean-up system, helping the brain’s natural defence cells find and remove some of the harmful protein deposits. Roche reported the 28-week result from its Phase 2 trial in July 2025. The study involved about 100 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment. The result was striking in that, about 90 percent of the patients had their amyloid plaques cleared within 28 weeks.
