A study supported by an educational grant from US biotech company Myriad Genetics, of Salt Lake City, has estimated the potential savings to the United States healthcare system, from a disease-modifying Alzheimer's drug, could be $4.0 trillion. These savings would be for new cases arising between 2010, when the first such drug is estimated by the authors to be available, and 2050, when the number of Alzheimer's disease sufferers reaches its peak.

The study authors note that Alzheimer's disease threatens to become a pandemic and could potentially bankrupt the United States Healthcare system, without new diseases-modifying drugs. The U.S. disease prevalence is expected to grow from the estimated 5.1 million people living with the disease today, to more than 7.7 million by 2030, and 16 million by 2050, which is more than the combined current total population of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

"These estimates give us the first true glimpse of the potential impact a drug like Myriad's Flurizan could have on the rapidly accelerating costs of treating Alzheimer's disease in this country," said Adrian Hobden, Ph.D., President of Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "This study calculates the dollar value of a year of life saved from Alzheimer's disease and provides a realistic measure against which payors might make coverage decisions for new therapeutics. The potential savings to the system of delaying the disease for just one year is tremendous."

The study, entitled "Alzheimer's Disease and Cost-Effective Analyses: Ensuring Good Value for Money?" was performed by John Vernon, Ph.D., Department of Finance, University of Connecticut, and National Bureau of Economic Research and colleagues at the University of Connecticut, as well as Robert Goldberg, Ph.D., from The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. The study was sponsored in part by ACT_AD, a coalition of 49 national organizations representing patients, caregivers, providers, consumers, older Americans, researchers and employers seeking to accelerate development of potential cures and treatments for Alzheimer's disease. The coalition is supported in part through educational grants from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Elan Corporation and Myriad Genetics.

Alzheimer's Disease Facts

1. 5.1 million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease
2. as a result of the aging U.S. population, the number of newly diagnosed cases of Alzheimer's disease is projected to double to 959,000 cases per year between 2010 and 2050
3. by 2050, the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease is expected to more than triple to 16 million, without new therapies
4. Medicare costs alone for Alzheimer's disease will reach $160 billion by 2010