UCSF Launches 825-Patient Alzheimer’s Trial Targeting Amyloid and Tau
Updated
Updated · BIOENGINEER.ORG · Jul 10
UCSF Launches 825-Patient Alzheimer’s Trial Targeting Amyloid and Tau
3 articles · Updated · BIOENGINEER.ORG · Jul 10
Summary
UCSF is starting screening this week for a national Alzheimer’s trial that will enroll up to 825 people with early impairment or biomarker evidence of disease.
The study is the first large-scale test of combination therapy against both amyloid and tau, aiming to intervene when tau first appears rather than targeting amyloid alone.
During the first 6 months, participants get placebo or the approved amyloid drug donanemab; they then receive a tau therapy alone or with donanemab for 2 years.
AADvac1 will be the first tau drug tested, and the adaptive platform can add more therapies over time, including drugs from competing companies.
NIH-funded researchers say the multi-site design and biomarker imaging could speed tau-drug development while building a broad data and sample bank for future Alzheimer’s research.
After decades focused on amyloid, does this trial signal that science has been chasing the wrong Alzheimer's culprit all along?
One drug has known fatal risks. Is this dual-target Alzheimer’s trial a breakthrough or a dangerous gamble for its participants?
The $151 Million Alzheimer’s Tau Platform (ATP) Trial: A Multi-Site, Biomarker-Driven Study Targeting Amyloid and Tau in Early Alzheimer’s Disease (2026–2029)
Overview
In July 2026, UC San Francisco launched the Alzheimer’s Tau Platform (ATP) trial, a large-scale, multi-site clinical study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The ATP trial aims to speed up the development of new Alzheimer’s treatments by testing innovative combination therapies that target both amyloid and tau proteins, the main hallmarks of the disease. By introducing a new approach to clinical trials, the ATP trial not only accelerates the availability of tau-targeting therapies but also reduces the financial and logistical challenges for patients, paving the way for more effective and accessible Alzheimer’s care.