24 Aug Will a rising tide in dementia discovery lift all boats?
By Roudie Shafie, OVID Health Partner
Health economists reading this may cringe at the rising tide analogy but a very real question remains over access, diagnosis and healthcare infrastructure modification needed to accelerate the exciting new science discoveries and bring new treatments – and hope – to millions of patients and carers in the future.
Lecanemab and donanemab data read outs show that new treatments in Alzheimer’s can make it to regulatory approval. What these trailblazers are doing is paving the way for more industry collaboration and investment to bring new or additive treatments to market. However, here lies the risk, if regulators, payers and healthcare systems prove to be too slow or too inflexible, it will act as a disincentive. Collaboration will be the key to success; collaboration is the tide gauge for whether dementia discovery will lift all boats.
Front of mind for the pharmaceutical industry will be collaboration with patients. By focusing on patient needs and awareness, the industry can develop therapies that empower patients. Stakeholders across healthcare providers, policymakers and payers can partner with pharmaceutical companies and patient communities to share expertise and try a multi-faceted approach to bring new dementia treatments to patients. Such collaborations can facilitate the development of innovative models for real-world evidence data monitoring, patient identification and optimised treatment pathways.
Real-world evidence can provide invaluable insights into the complexities of dementia, enabling pharmaceutical companies to evaluate treatment effectiveness, improve care pathways, enhance patient outcomes and drive innovation. Large scale real-world evidence collaborations in Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia can widen studies to more diverse populations, gather further health economic data on patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness, enhancing the value proposition in different healthcare settings, for instance by quantifying healthcare resource utilisation.
With new treatments on the horizon, earlier diagnosis is urgently needed. It is estimated that three quarters of people living with dementia worldwide are not formally diagnosed. That’s millions of people and families potentially missing out on future treatment options. It also constitutes an urgent adaptation challenge for healthcare systems. Technological advances should make it easier and cheaper to diagnose, but acquiring new technology is only the beginning of the challenge for many countries. Collaboration with patients and pharmaceutical and technology companies can identify accelerated pathways of diagnosis as well as support clinical teams to manage expectations from patients, as treatments are likely to be most effective for patients at the very earliest stages of disease progression.
Dementia represents one of the most pressing global health challenges, demanding collaborative efforts from the pharmaceutical industry. Together, we can illuminate the path towards a future where the burden of dementia is alleviated over time.
Roudie Shafie is a Partner at OVID Health and a Trustee of the UK Dementia Research Institute.