Even modest therapeutic advances that delay Alzheimer’s Disease onset and progression could significantly reduce the global burden of the disease and the level of care required by patients. While there are symptomatic-based drug therapies available for Alzheimer’s, these medications do not prevent the disease process itself. There is therefore an imperative to develop new treatments that have disease modifying effects.

The NILVAD consortium comprised 17 participating institutions based in nine different European Union member states as well as Archer Pharmaceuticals. It mobilized the synergies of the major relevant European research groups to conduct a clinical trial on the efficacy of nilvadipine in Alzheimer's Disease. The NILVAD consortium was formed by renowned researchers from all over Europe and USA, each one with a strong scientific and/or clinical background in the fields of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Excellent research standards - including the latest scientific and technological advances - were the basis for the NILVAD Project, A European multicentre double-blind placebo-controlled phase III trial of nilvadipine in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease coordinated by Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

This double-blind placebo controlled study tested the efficacy and safety of nilvadipine in 510 subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease over a treatment period of 18 months. Male and female patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease aged between 50 and 90 with a range of medical morbidities and frailty were included in the study.

Analyses are ongoing and study results are expected to become public in Q1 2018.

The NILVAD Study protocol is available here.