Alzheimer’s medication tested in the Chattahoochee Valley could be approved in 2020

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Biogen, a national pharmaceutical company, plans to submit a biologics license application to the Federal Drug Administration in early 2020. If approved, the drug, Aducanumab, would be the first medication to reduce the clinical decline of Alzheimer’s disease.

Aducanumab is a human antibody studied for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s. The Columbus Memory Center was one of the first in the world to enroll in the initial study. Once approved, the medication could begin helping patients, like Charles Clegg, this year.

His wife, Carol, noticed her husband’s memory slipping when he began forgetting day-to-day basics. She decided to take him to the Columbus Memory Center for a memory number.

Tyrone McCoy, the Columbus Memory Center Marketing and Communications Director, said, “A memory number is a self-administered test that gauges your baseline understanding of your brain health. It shows where you are right now and how your brain is firing on a cognitive level.”

At the Columbus Memory Center, Charles Clegg is taught to practice putting together puzzles, playing mind games like Sudoku, and building using his woodshop tools. He started making little cars and trucks that would fit into Operation Christmas child boxes.

Last year, he made 1,001 cars for the program and the children at his church.

His wife says, “Watching him suffer from it, that’s the hardest part. This is not what we planned on. We planned on retirement, going and doing everything.”

The Clegg’s agreed that this retirement may have been unexpected, but they would not trade it for anything.

“Had he not had Alzheimer’s, he would never had made a little car or blessed those children,” Carol said.

Charles Clegg leaves fellow patients with a message: “Just because you have Alzheimer’s doesn’t mean your life is over yet. Keep doing something. The Lord will take care of you.”

In addition to puzzles and games, staying connected with people, learning new words or activities, and maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle are all preventatives for early Alzheimer’s.

The Columbus Memory Center suggests anyone over the age of fifty-five be tested for a memory number to check on brain activity.

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