KELOWNA–Okanagan Clinical Trials is looking for volunteers living with Alzheimer’s disease to test a new drug.
“We need people to volunteer for studies, for new medications to get out on the market,” says Dr. Kim Christie, Director of Research at Okanagan Clinical Trials.
Participants must already be taking donepzil, marketed under the brand name Aricept.
The new, and yet un-named drug, is being studied as an add-on therapy to donepzil, which is the most commonly prescribed medication for the disease.
While half of the participants will receive a placebo, at the end of the trial, all patients will be offered the real drug treatment for one full year.
“Telling somebody that already has Alzheimer’s that they can take a medication that will give them a couple more years of functional life, that’s exciting,” says Dr. Christie.
This clinical trial could be the last one needed before the new treatment is approved for market.
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