New treatments being tested

Many families hear about a "breakthrough" Alzheimer's drug on the news and wonder if it could help someone they love. This page explains what is being tested right now, what the newest results show, and how far each drug is from your local pharmacy.

The short version: research is busier than ever, and some new ideas look hopeful. But as of October 2026, none of the drugs on this page is approved by the FDA. The approved medicines are listed on our dementia medicines page.

How new drugs are tested

Before the FDA approves a medicine, it goes through clinical trials (research studies in people). Each phase answers a different question.¹¹

Phase 2 trials are usually too small to prove a drug works. Phase 3 trials give the FDA the main proof it needs.¹¹ So when you read about a drug, the phase tells you a lot about how close it is.

Most trials compare the new drug with a placebo (a look-alike with no medicine). Neither the volunteers nor the doctors know who gets which. This keeps hope and expectations from tilting the results.¹¹

The big picture in 2026

Each year, researchers led by Dr. Jeffrey Cummings count every Alzheimer's drug trial listed on ClinicalTrials.gov. The 2026 report found:¹

• 192 trials testing 158 drugs, up from 182 trials and 138 drugs a year earlier.
• 54 phase 3 trials testing 36 drugs.
• Drugs aimed at 17 different disease processes in the brain.
• About 1 in 3 drugs (35%) are repurposed, meaning they are already approved for some other illness.
• 8 phase 3 trials were expected to reach their main finish line during 2026.

The mix has also changed. Ten years ago, about one third of drugs targeted amyloid (a sticky protein that builds up between brain cells). Now amyloid, tau, and inflammation each make up about one fifth of the pipeline.¹ Most drugs being tested (73%) aim to slow the disease itself. The rest aim to ease memory symptoms or behavior changes such as agitation.¹

Semaglutide: the EVOKE trials

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 drug, a type of medicine used for diabetes and weight loss. Earlier studies raised hope that it might also protect the brain. So the drug company Novo Nordisk tested a daily semaglutide pill in two large phase 3 trials, called EVOKE and EVOKE+.²

The trials included 3,808 people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's. Half took semaglutide and half took a placebo for two years.²

What happened. Semaglutide did not slow the loss of memory and daily skills compared with placebo. Novo Nordisk announced this in November 2025 and stopped the planned extra year of the study.² A later expert review called the trials well run but negative.³

Some blood and spinal fluid tests did change a little. A marker of inflammation in the body went down. But these changes were small, about 7% to 10%, and they did not match up with slower decline.³ This is an important lesson: a drug can move a lab test without helping people in daily life.

Newer anti-amyloid drugs

Two anti-amyloid drugs are already approved: lecanemab (Leqembi) and donanemab (Kisunla). They slow decline by a modest amount. They also need many clinic visits and carry a risk of ARIA, which is brain swelling or small bleeds. The next wave of drugs tries to fix some of these problems.

Remternetug

Remternetug is made by Eli Lilly, the company that makes donanemab. It can be given as a shot under the skin, which may someday mean fewer trips to an infusion center.⁴

Its main phase 3 trial, TRAILRUNNER-ALZ 1, enrolled 1,667 people with Alzheimer's. The main goal was to see how many people cleared their amyloid plaques on a PET scan after one year, compared with placebo. The trial finished in May 2026.⁴ As of early October 2026, we could not find full results published in a medical journal. Clearing amyloid on a scan is not the same as proving that people do better in daily life.

Trontinemab and "brain shuttle" drugs

The brain has a tight wall around its blood vessels called the blood-brain barrier. It keeps most large medicines out, including antibody drugs.

Trontinemab, made by Roche, is built to get past this wall. One part of the drug grabs amyloid. Another part latches onto a receptor that normally carries iron into the brain. The receptor ferries the drug across, like a shuttle. The goal is to get more medicine into the brain at a lower dose, and clear amyloid faster.⁵

In an early trial, 49 of 54 people (91%) on the higher dose had amyloid levels low enough to count as negative after 28 weeks.⁵ ARIA swelling showed up in 4 of 149 people (under 5%) across the two higher doses, and all cases were mild on the scan.⁵ For comparison, about 1 in 8 people on lecanemab had ARIA swelling in its main trial (see our lecanemab page). These early numbers are hopeful, but they come from a small study that was not mainly designed to prove benefit. Promising

Two phase 3 trials, TRONTIER 1 and TRONTIER 2, are now testing whether trontinemab slows memory and thinking decline. TRONTIER 1 started in September 2025. It plans to enroll about 800 people aged 50 to 90 with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's. They get IV infusions of the drug or a placebo, and the main check comes at 72 weeks. The trial is expected to finish in mid-2028.⁷ Roche has also designed a prevention trial, PrevenTRON, for people with no symptoms who are at high risk. It uses a blood test to help find volunteers.⁶

Drugs that target tau

Tau is a protein that normally helps hold brain cells in shape. In Alzheimer's, it twists into tangles inside the cells. Many researchers think lowering tau could help. About 1 in 5 drugs now in testing target tau.¹

Diranersen (BIIB080)

Diranersen, from Biogen, is an antisense drug. That means it is a short strand of genetic code that tells cells to make less tau. It is given by injection into the spinal fluid, similar to a spinal tap.⁸ The FDA gave it Fast Track status in 2025, which can speed up its review.⁸

The phase 2 CELIA trial included 416 people with early Alzheimer's who had not taken an anti-amyloid drug. They received one of three dose schedules or placebo for 76 weeks.⁸

What it found:

• The trial missed its main goal. It was looking for a pattern where higher doses worked better, and that did not happen.⁸
• In other planned checks, decline looked slower in all dose groups, most of all at the lowest dose.⁸
• Tau levels in spinal fluid and on brain scans went down at every dose.⁸
• Serious side effects were more common at the highest dose.⁸

The Alzheimer's Association called this the first phase 2 evidence that a drug can remove tau tangles from the brains of people with early Alzheimer's.⁹ Biogen plans to move it into larger trials that could support approval.⁸ Mixed results like these need to be confirmed in a phase 3 trial before anyone can say the drug works. Promising

Other tau drugs, including antibodies, are in earlier testing.¹

Treating before symptoms start

Some of the biggest trials now test whether anti-amyloid drugs can delay symptoms in people whose memory is still normal but who have amyloid in the brain. Doctors call this preclinical Alzheimer's.

One example is TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 3. It is testing donanemab against placebo in about 3,000 people aged 55 to 80 with normal thinking and signs of amyloid on a blood test. It measures how long it takes before people start to have problems. Results are expected around November 2027.¹⁰ New blood tests for Alzheimer's make trials like this much easier to run.^6,10

Where things stand

How to judge an Alzheimer's headline

New drug stories can raise hope fast. These questions can help you sort real progress from hype.

1. Was it tested in people? Results in mice or cells are early. Most never lead to a medicine.
2. What phase was it? A phase 1 or 2 trial is a first look. Only phase 3 trials give the kind of proof the FDA needs.¹¹
3. Did it meet its main goal? Every trial names one main question before it starts. If a story focuses on side findings, the main result may have been negative. CELIA is an example.⁸
4. Did people do better, or just a lab test? A lower amyloid or tau level is not the same as better memory or daily life. EVOKE showed that biomarkers can move while people keep declining.³
5. How big was the benefit? Look for numbers you can picture. A small slowing of decline is not a cure.
6. What were the risks? Ask about brain swelling, bleeding, infusion reactions and other side effects.
7. Who is saying it? A company press release is not the same as a peer-reviewed paper. Be extra careful with ads for "miracle cures" and memory supplements.¹² See our page on supplements and memory claims.
8. Can you get it? If it is not FDA-approved, the only way to get it is usually through a clinical trial.

Can my family member join a trial?

Joining a trial is the main way to get an experimental drug. It also helps future families. Trials have rules about age, stage, health and other medicines. Many now need a blood test, brain scan or spinal fluid test to confirm amyloid.

Our page on joining a dementia clinical trial explains what trials involve, how volunteers are protected, and how to search for studies near you. You can also ask your doctor or a memory clinic. See which specialist to see.

Education only. This page is general information written from the sources listed. It is not medical, legal or financial advice and does not replace a doctor, therapist or lawyer who knows your situation. How we write and check pages.