Archive · 29 Jun 2025
Siblings Join Alzheimer’s Trial, Facing Genetic Threat
Alzheimer's is a disease that makes it hard to remember things.
Hannah and her siblings have a family gene that causes them to get Alzheimer's when they're still young.
They are in a trial that will use a new medicine to see if it can stop the disease before it starts.
This medicine targets a protein called amyloid.
Some doctors think this medicine might help slow down or stop the disease, but others aren't sure.
The siblings are doing this research to help themselves and others with the same problem.
Hannah Richardson and her siblings are participating in a clinical trial for early-onset Alzheimer's.
Their family has a history of a rare genetic mutation, PSEN1, that causes early-onset Alzheimer's.
The trial, led by WashU Medicine, uses an experimental drug, remternetug, targeting amyloid.
Antiamyloid drugs have shown to delay the onset of the disease and potentially slow cognitive decline.
The siblings face a 50% chance of developing Alzheimer's in their 30s due to the inherited gene.
- Who
- Hannah Richardson and her siblings, along with researchers and doctors at WashU Medicine.
- What
- A clinical trial is testing a new drug to prevent early-onset Alzheimer's in a family with a genetic mutation.
- When
- The trial is ongoing.
- Where
- The trial is led by WashU Medicine.
- Why
- To determine if early treatment can slow or halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Antiamyloid Drugs
Amyloid Theory
Preventative Use of Antiamyloid Drugs
Antiamyloid Drugs
Should be used preventively in people at risk of Alzheimer's.
Amyloid Theory
It is uncertain whether it makes sense to use these drugs in people who don’t have amyloid at all.
- Genetic Mutation
- PSEN1
- Average Age of Onset (Family)
- 39
- Trial Drug
- Remternetug
- Risk of Developing Alzheimer's
- 50%
- First Antiamyloid Drugs Approved
- 2021