New dementia pill shows early promise in safety trials
A new experimental pill for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is showing some real hope.
In early safety trials in the Netherlands and UK, people with a genetic risk for FTD took the treatment and saw their levels of a key brain protein, progranulin, jump by over 95%—all without major side effects.
How it works—and why it matters
The pill, called VES001, helps keep more progranulin in the brain by limiting the effectiveness of the sortilin receptor, slowing the removal of progranulin.
According to Jonathan Rohrer, principal investigator of the trial at the Queen Square Institute of Neurology at University College London, this could one day help prevent symptoms in people at risk for FTD—even 10 to 20 years down the line.
But it's still early days; more research is needed before it could become widely available.
Quick FTD refresher
FTD is a rare but aggressive type of dementia that often hits people under 60, causing big changes in personality and language skills.
It can run in families when certain genes are involved—like the GRN gene that this new treatment targets.