Chemical & pharmaceutical bulletinJun 30, 2024

New Developments and Views on Antibodies Targeting Amyloid-β and Treatments Against Tau for Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimers & Treatments Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 16, 2026

Abstract

A total of three drugs targeting amyloid-β (Aβ) have received significant regulatory approval for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Aducanumab was approved by the FDA as the first disease-modifying agent for AD under a conditional accelerated pathway.
Lecanemab has received traditional full approval in both the U.S. and Japan.
Donanemab achieved the primary endpoint in a phase 3 clinical study.
Tau-targeting therapies have not demonstrated clinical benefit, despite a strong correlation between increased tau levels and cognitive impairment.
Current tau immunotherapies, including anti-tau antibodies and vaccines, have shown functional benefits in clinical trials.
Clinical trials are exploring the potential of combination therapy using both Aβ and tau antibodies.

Simplified

Amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles containing phosphorylated tau protein are major hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Drug discovery efforts to target Aβ and tau have been the primary focus for several decades. Recently, substantial breakthroughs have been achieved in the clinical development of Aβ antibodies; aducanumab was approved under conditional accelerated pathway by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. as the first disease-modifying agent for treating AD, and lecanemab has been granted traditional full approved in the U.S. and Japan. In addition, donanemab met the primary endpoint in a phase 3 study. On the other hand, tau-targeting therapies have failed to show clinical benefit although that increased tau levels show a strong correlation with cognitive impairment relative to Aβ depositions. Currently, tau immunotherapies, such as anti-tau antibodies and tau vaccines, have shown functional benefits in clinical trials. Also, clinical trials for combination therapy of Aβ and tau antibodies to see their potential are being investigated. In this review, we provide updates on the results of clinical trials of anti-Aβ antibodies and anti-tau therapeutics and suggest future directions for these therapeutics.

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New Developments and Views on Antibodies Targeting Amyloid-β and Treatments Against Tau for Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

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