Dementia and Alzheimer’s Treatments

Lord Evans of Rainow Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Evans of Rainow]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to advance the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s treatments.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government are committed to advancing the development of dementia treatments having invested £496.4 million over the past five years through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and UK Research and Innovation. Additionally, the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme, with up to £150 million of associated funding, aims to speed up the development of new treatments for dementia by accelerating innovation in biomarkers, clinical trials and implementation.

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

I thank the Minister for that helpful response. Finding a cure for dementia is the challenge of our time. Some drugs now available delay the onset of dementia. They are available privately, but not on the NHS. The NHS says that the assumed costs of administering the drugs are too high. Can the Minister look into this matter to see whether she can clear any barriers to making the new drug lecanemab accessible to everybody on the NHS?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I understand the point the noble Lord is making; I was glad to have the chance of a discussion with him yesterday. I also thank him for his campaigning on such an important matter. I share his view about the need to ensure speed and efficacy. To that point, I say to him that since March this year, as part of the regulation action plan, NICE and the MHRA have been building on the systems we already have in place to make sure that there is rapid access. To prepare for a new generation of dementia treatments, NHS England is working closely with regulators to ensure that arrangements are in place to support the adoption of any new licensed and NICE-recommended treatments as soon as possible. As the noble Lord will understand, it is important that we have the right treatments that do the job and are available. On some of the more recent ones, I understand the disappointment, but the fact is that no disease-modifying treatments are currently available. However, science is developing, and I am sure we will discuss this further.