TOKYO — Major drugmaker Eisai Co. plans to start clinical tests to see whether a drug for Alzheimer's disease is effective in treating symptoms of Down syndrome seen in adulthood, according to informed sources.
If the drug is proven to curb a deterioration of the ability to conduct daily activities seen in adult Down sufferers, it will become the first medicine used to treat the condition, significantly enhancing their quality of life.
The tests of the drug Aricept, which has been used to treat Alzheimer's since 1999, will be conducted from August at 10 hospitals nationwide.
The study will cover dozens of people with Down's aged 15 to 39, and is expected to take three to four years to complete.
Based on the study's results, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will decide whether to approve the drug for use in curbing symptoms of Down syndrome.
According to a 2011 report by the ministry's research team, 6 percent of people with Down syndrome above third-year middle-school age develop slowness of movement, experience sleeping disorders, have fewer conversations and withdraw into their own world, experts said. Such symptoms appear over a short period.