Breaking News Dispatch: Alzheimer's Oral Therapies, Prevention Strategies, and Targeted Treatments Emerge

Momentum is building in Alzheimer’s research, with an incredible array of new treatment approaches for Alzheimer’s disease highlighted at the International Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD)™ conference, held March 17-21, 2026, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Researchers shared updates on promising therapies, improvements to existing therapies, and emerging digital and AI-driven approaches to address unmet needs for people living with Alzheimer’s.

Continue reading to learn about the latest approaches to treat Alzheimer’s, reduce risk, and potentially improve access to treatment for people at higher genetic risk.

New Oral Alzheimer’s Therapy Shows Therapeutic Benefit, Time Saved

Drug developer Anavex showed data from its Phase IIb/III trial of the pill-based drug blarcamesine for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The trial showed promising effects maintaining brain volume and slowing dementia the severity of dementia. Blarcamesine works by activating the “garbage removal system” of cells to clear out toxic amyloid-beta from affected neurons.

Blarcamesine was shown to be safe and well-tolerated, with no deaths or reports of brain swelling, microbleeds, or other amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA). Compared to the historical Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) control group, people taking blarcamesine for 33 months showed roughly 17 months of “time saved”—in other words, their cognitive decline was slowed by more than 50 percent.

Based on these results, the drug, which works differently from other approved disease-modifying therapies, is expected to move forward in the regulatory review process.

“The patient-friendly oral administration, the manageable side effects, and the clinical efficacy…make blarcamesine, in conjunction with the associated biomarker signal, a promising drug candidate for patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease,” said Timo Grimmer, MD, member of the Anavex Scientific Advisory Board in a press release.

Learn more about blarcamesine and other upcoming Alzheimer’s treatments.

Healthy Lifestyle Changes Have Long-Term Brain Benefits

Miia Kivipelto, MD, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute shared the latest findings from World Wide FINGERS (WW-FINGERS), a network of global studies looking at the long-term effects of multi-domain lifestyle changes aimed at reducing Alzheimer’s risk. Changes such as diet, increased physical activity, social activities, and cognitive training have all been linked to improved cognition. WW-FINGERS studies investigate the effect of combining these lifestyle changes rather than focusing on one single factor.

The initial FINGER trial now includes 11 years’ worth of follow-up data. Remarkably, the data show that the participants who continued to adhere to the described lifestyle changes had better cognition than when they started the regimen 7-11 years earlier.

“What we do, during two years, seems to have a long-term effect. And interestingly, higher adherence was also linked to better cognition after 11 years. Normally, what we would expect is decline. People are declining and here the intervention group had better cognition still after seven years, better than what they had when they started,” said Dr. Kivipelto in her presentation.

WW-Fingers now includes coordinated trials across 73 countries enrolling more than 20,000 participants. Learn more about the U.S. POINTER Study, part of the WW-FINGERS network, which recruited more than 2,000 people across the United States to participate in a multi-domain lifestyle intervention trial.

New Treatment Targets for People at Increased Genetic Risk for Alzheimer’s

APOE4 is a gene variant linked to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s, especially for those who inherit two copies. Several presentations at AD/PD shared findings that could provide hope to people who have the APOE4 gene and their families.

BrightFocus Alzheimer’s Disease Research grantee Oleg Butovsky, PhD, presented data connecting APOE4 to changes in both the brain’s immune system and blood vessels. Dysfunction of specific brain immune cells, called microglia, and a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier are two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. Dr. Butovsky suggested there is a common pathway related to APOE4 that links both of those hallmarks.

People with two copies of the APOE4 gene are often unable to take currently available Alzheimer’s medications like Leqembi and Kisunla because they are at high risk for side effects like ARIA (which can include microbleeds or brain swelling). Targeting this pathway could provide access to these therapies for people at higher genetic risk by reducing the risk of side effects.

Additionally, drug developer Alzheon presented data on its investigational oral therapy, ALZ-801 (valiltramiprosate), which was developed specifically for people with two copies of the APOE4 gene. In studies, people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) taking ALZ-801 showed significant improvement in dementia tests and no increased risk of ARIA.

Alzheon is planning a new Phase III trial to look specifically at APOE4/4 people with MCI. If successful, this would be the first drug available specifically for APOE4/4 individuals.

“Our results at AD/PD align with previous clinical, imaging, safety, and biomarker data. Targeting toxic amyloid oligomers continues to show promise for preserving cognition, daily function, and brain volume. As we prepare for regulatory discussions, our priority is approval of valiltramiprosate for Alzheimer’s patients with the APOE4 genotype and expanding to additional high-risk groups,” Alzheon chief medical officer Susan Abusakra said in a statement.

Read more about APOE4 and Alzheimer’s disease.

Explore a few hot topics discussed at the conference:

View Alzheimer’s disease resources and learn more about the innovative research funded by BrightFocus Foundation’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research program.

Did you miss our previous Breaking News Dispatches from top Alzheimer’s and dementia conferences? Catch up here.

This Breaking News Dispatch is supported by sponsorship funding from Lilly.