Does this look right to you?
Let me take you down a rabbit hole to illustrate how a network of interlacing problems in Alzheimer’s disease research ethics impacts our progress on this disease. This western blot show the level of an Alzheimer’s biomarker in a clinical trial of the drug simufilam from Cassava Sciences and their lead lab scientist Hoau Yan Wang from City University of New York. It was published in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, 2020.

I want to show you what microhemorrhages and brain swelling from anti-amyloid immunotherapies look like under a microscope. In this severe case, many of the vessels simply disintegrated - see the bleeding and numerous aneurysms in this striking image. #Alzheimer #lecanemab This is a piece of human brain from a patient who died from a side effect of the Alzheimer's drug lecanemab. The tissue is about 2.5 x 2.5 x 1cm and has been "cleared", allowing us to see the vessels in three dimensions using a type of microscope called a lightsheet.

In Feb 2022, I sent a letter to editors at the journal Nature raising concerns about the integrity of a 2006 study describing the role of β-amyloid oligomers in Alzheimer's disease and a key assembly the authors termed Aβ*56. nature.com/articles/natur… First author Sylvain Lesne and senior author Karen Ashe argued that a specific oligomer of β-amyloid induced memory deficits. But some methods didn't make sense and some of the images looked manipulated, as reported by @cpiller. science.org/content/articl…

The Alzheimer's Association wants you to believe there is a "consensus" that Biogen/Eisai's drug Lecanemab is a breakthrough. They are circulating a letter signed by ~200 physicians/scientists to support this claim. BUT - most work for/with Biogen/Eisai. alz.org/media/Document… The letter feels self-congratulatory and makes no pretense of balance. Apparently it was written by Dennis Selkoe and twelve colleagues, all seemingly with connections to Biogen/Eisai or the trials. Importantly, not all bothered to disclose this connection (a recurring problem).

My thoughts on the phase 3 results of Alzheimer's drug lecanemab from Biogen and Eisai, presented at #CTAD #CTAD22 and published this evening in the @NEJM. Major takeaway – this is NOT the breakthrough we have been waiting for. Key points: 1) This trial is much better than the frustrating data associated with Aducanumab. Demographics are well balanced between groups and are (somewhat) more representative, the protocol is coherent and there aren’t major technical problems.