UK trial tests diabetes and ADHD drugs as possible Alzheimer’s treatments

A UK clinical trial is testing whether two existing medicines—metformin, used for type 2 diabetes, and the ADHD drug atomoxetine—can ease symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers hope its multi-drug design will speed up the search for treatments, but the trial will not finish assessing its first medicines until 2030.

The study, called AD-SMART, aims to recruit 1,200 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s at more than 30 UK sites. Participants will receive regular health checks, including cognitive tests, and researchers will assess whether treatments improve thinking and the ability to manage everyday activities.

The trial is a multi-arm, multi-stage study: several medicines can be tested at once against a group receiving a placebo. Treatments that show no benefit can be dropped, while others may be added. Researchers say this approach could reduce the time needed to evaluate potential treatments compared with testing one drug at a time.

Professor Paresh Malhotra, the study’s chief investigator, said metformin and atomoxetine were selected by an international panel of experts. Both may help reduce brain inflammation, which he described as a driver of neurodegeneration. Their effectiveness in Alzheimer’s is what the trial is intended to establish, not a result already demonstrated.

Angela Bucksey, 67, from Cambridgeshire, was the first participant to start treatment. Diagnosed in January, she told the BBC that taking part made her feel she was doing something in response to the disease. Her husband, Steve, is her study partner.

Sites in Cambridgeshire, Surrey, London, Southampton and Edinburgh are already open. The trial is led by the UK Dementia Research Institute and Alzheimer’s Research UK, with funding from the UK government.