“Drug failure casts doubt on Alzheimer's cause” (Aug. 19) reported that “[t]he failure of a promising Alzheimer's drug in clinical trials highlights the gap between diagnosis — where real progress has recently been made — and treatment of the disease.” Indeed. Recent significant steps forward in early diagnosis of Alzheimer's are important. They're also frustrating, because there is still little that can be done when this devastating condition is identified either late in the game or in its nascent stages.
 

To say that the science is "hard" is not helpful. The twin issues of drug development and regulatory science need to be addressed.
 

Investment in basic research is not enough. We need better tools to improve the predictability of drug development and to lower the cost of research by helping industry identify product failures earlier in the clinical trials process. Too many programs (almost half) are failing late in Phase III or are mired in regulatory treacle. The economics are unsustainable from a corporate research and development standpoint, and the impact of Alzheimer's disease on patients, their families and health care economics is devastating.
 

Peter Pitts

New York

President, Center for Medicine in the Public Interest