CONFERENCE COVERAGE SERIES
Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) 2025
Toronto, Canada and Online
27 – 31 July 2025
AAIC 2025 in Toronto featured more than 6,000 poster and oral presentations. Woven through 17 stories, Alzforum reporters traced some of the latest developments in clinical trials, biomarkers, and basic biology. Top billing? Blood markers and immunotherapy look just as good in real-world cohorts as they did in more controlled settings; trontinemab, which piggybacks on the transferrin receptor to slip across the blood-brain barrier, rapidly clears plaques with little inflammation; topline data from Pointer, the US multidomain intervention trials, suggests that improving lifestyle can improve cognition. You can read about these and other research gems in our conference series.
Will Keeping HDLs Lipidated Also Keep Alzheimer’s Away?
The investigational drug obicetrapib blocks the transfer of cholesteryl esters from high- to low-density lipoprotein. In a cardiovascular disease trial, it reduced plasma p-tau217.
Signs of Lasting Benefit From Amyloid Immunotherapy?
Open-label data on four years of treatment with lecanemab, and three years of donanemab, suggest benefits grow over time, as expected for disease-modifying therapies.
Lifestyle Makeover Boosts Cognition in Older Adults
Structured coaching bests DIY approach, U.S. POINTER study finds.
First Morsel of Results from DIAN Concurrent Amyloid and Tau Trial
In the NexGen trial, six months on lecanemab cleared 20 centiloids of plaque in symptomatic mutation carriers, putting them on track to be plaque-free by the end.
Brain-Derived Versions of Phospho-Tau Make Better Markers
Blood contains phosphorylated fragments of short isoforms of tau made only in the brain. These markers may outperform systemic p-tau markers.
Microtuble-Binding Region—the Next Marker for Immunoassay Platforms?
Scientists have developed antibodies that detect fragments of tau’s MTBR in the CSF. A blood test may soon follow.
Forget PET and CSF. Start Immunotherapy on a Blood Test?
Amyloid scans to confirm plasma marker data might only create more uncertainty, data suggests. New guidelines say a blood test is enough to confirm Alzheimer’s disease.
First Glimmers of Lecanemab Efficacy in the “Real World”?
Some clinicians claimed their patients on lecanemab declined more slowly than their disease trajectory would predict. The number of these patients is still small.
Roche Spells Out Phase Three Plans for Trontinemab
The company reported near-final Phase 2 data for 3.6 mg/kg. This dose completely cleared plaque at six months with almost no ARIA, and is going to Phase 3.
TfR, No Longer Lone Star? New Shuttles Use Other Keys to Unlock Brain
At AAIC, scientists showed alternatives to transferrin receptor for ferrying large therapeutics into the brain’s parenchyma, and making them stay. Dual shuttles worked best.
Coming Soon: Africa’s First Large-Scale Alzheimer’s Datasets
Scientists across a large swath of the continent are teaming up to collect blood samples for genetic and biomarker analyses.
Are Tunneling Nanotubes Channeling Alzheimer’s?
AD genes and inflammation shape the hair-like projections that microglia extend to neurons.
More Data Say Plasma P-tau217 is Nearing Prime Time
New data at AAIC support plasma p-tau217 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker. It can also rule out imminent AD.
Blood P-tau217’s New Frontiers: Primary Care, Test-at-Home
General practitioners are ordering p-tau217 tests, sometimes for the wrong patients. A startup hopes to streamline Alzheimer’s disease management.
Biopsy Tell-All: Fussy Microglia, Strange Macrophages, Weak Neurons
Slivers of brain taken during surgery for normal pressure hydrocephalus reveal cellular shenanigans in early AD.
Occipital Amyloid: Giveaway for ARIA Risk?
In the donanemab trials, people with high plaque loads at the back of the cortex had almost twice the risk of ARIA-E. Occipital amyloid is associated with CAA.
On the Hunt for Fluid Biomarkers of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy
Scientists at AAIC nominated new candidates, including a CSF interferon signature and a panel of five blood proteins that detected CAA with 90 percent accuracy.