Head of Neurology at Málaga Regional Hospital criticises lack of funding for new Alzheimer's drugs

Pedro Serrano Castro, head of the Neurology Service at the Regional University Hospital of Málaga, claims it is "a great mistake" that the new Alzheimer's medications are not funded and calls for their inclusion in public healthcare.

The head of the Neurology Service at the Regional University Hospital of Málaga, Pedro Serrano Castro, has advocated for public funding of the new Alzheimer's drugs, lecanemab and donanemab, which are currently not covered by the healthcare system. In an interview, the doctor described it as a "great mistake" that these treatments do not receive funding, as they "open a treatment door to a disease that until now was absolutely orphaned."

Serrano, who is also a specialist researcher in epilepsy, explained that these drugs act on the "basic mechanisms" of the disease, specifically by preventing the deposition of the beta-amyloid protein. Although they are not curative, "they are starting to show efficacy" and their use will allow progress in the research of derivative molecules that "will probably be more effective."

"This is the beginning of a chain that we must not interrupt, because the use of these first drugs will lead to the research of derivative molecules that will likely be more effective," he pointed out.

The doctor highlighted that the future of Alzheimer's treatment will involve a combination of strategies: anti-beta-amyloid drugs, anti-tau drugs, and anti-neuroinflammatory drugs. "This combination of drugs is likely to have a relevant efficacy in the natural deterioration of the disease," he noted.