126 | March• 2018
WAITING FOR ALZHEIMER’S
promise only to be discarded as false
leads. (In fact, further results a few
months later were more nebulous.)
In April the doctor sat with Geri as
she lay outstretched, an IV needle in
her arm. She knew about the parade
of failures for Alzheimer’s drugs. “It
must be exciting to be involved in a
success,” she said to the doctor.
“Well, a qualified success,” he
replied. “It’s still early.”At this point, the drug remained a
question mark.* It would take years
to know its genuine worth. He was
rightly cautious.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Fine.”
“No itching?”
“No.” She felt hopeful. It was her
inner optimism, her desire to locate
a way out. She told the doctor, “I’ve
said to Jim that if I could be freeze-
dried like this, I could live with that.”
And, sure, who wouldn’t grab thatcommunicate with someone with the
disease: focus on one subject, never
ask several questions at the same
time. When a friend pelted her with
multiple questions, it left her baffled.
The audience was hushed and rapt,
hearing an ageing couple tell how they
were torn up and united by a disease.
They took questions. A man wanted
to know if she did crossword puzzles.
She said she didn’t, they were too
frustrating. But she still loved to read
and was ploughing throughCrime
and Punishment. Someone else asked,
“What do you want to hear when you
tell someone you have Alzheimer’s?“
“I love you, anything I can do I’ll
do,” said Geri. “The acceptance is
more important than the particulars.”
NEW MISSION
In March 2015, Geri had her first
monthly infusion of the trial drug
aducanumab. Biogen had recently
announced that an analysis of 166
patients had shown positive results.
The drug slowed cognitive decline
and reduced plaque in the brain. Ex-
perts saw the data as encouraging. Of
course other drugs had offered initial
THEAUDIENCEWASHUSHEDANDRAPT,
HEARINGACOUPLETELLHOWTHEYWERE
TOR N U P A N D U N I T ED BY A DISE A SE*On August 28, 2017, Biogen announced
positive results from a three-year trial
that found levels of amyloid plaque
continued to decrease in patients taking
aducanumab. Two global Phase 3 studies
are currently underway.