UK Prime Minister backs adaptive trial to fast-track Alzheimer’s drug development

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, whose father Roy succumbed to Alzheimer’s last September, publicly backed the Ad-Smart (Alzheimer’s disease Systematic Multi-arm Adaptive Randomised Trial) initiative led by the UK Dementia Research Institute and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Backed by government funding, the trial will test several existing medicines—including the ADHD drug atomoxetine and the diabetes drug metformin—alongside future candidates, using an adaptive design intended to halve the time needed to assess efficacy.

Recruitment has started at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and other sites, with up to 20 NHS locations planned and over 1,000 participants within 18 months. Chief investigator Professor Paresh Malhotra said the approach mirrors advances in cancer trials, allowing ineffective drugs to be dropped quickly. Burnham emphasized that accelerating dementia research is a national priority and aims to position Britain as a leader in delivering new treatments. Early findings are slated for 2030, with participants monitored through scans and blood tests.