Treatment to slow Alzheimer’s progression given in Cyprus for first time

Local doctorsdrugshealthTop News Treatment to slow Alzheimer’s progression given in Cyprus for first time Treatment To Slow Alzheimer's Progression Given In Cyprus For First Time Relevant News Treatment to slow Alzheimer’s progression given in Cyprus for first time 24 July 2026 Major road projects worth €493m target relief for gridlocked Limassol 24 July 2026 Officials probed for trading in influence in videogate affair, says investigator 24 July 2026 Ioanna Mantzipa 24 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber A 72-year-old woman became the first patient in Cyprus to receive the monoclonal antibody donanemab, in a pioneering treatment for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease administered yesterday at Melathro Agoniston EOKA. Professor of Neurology Giorgos Kaponidis, the scientific and medical director of Melathro Agoniston EOKA, told Phileleftheros the patient is in the early stages of the disease and first showed symptoms around a year ago. Her family noticed changes in her memory and behaviour and sought specialist help, he said. After completing the necessary tests and confirming the Alzheimer’s diagnosis, doctors found she met the strict criteria for the treatment, which is aimed at patients in the disease’s initial stages. The treatment uses the monoclonal antibody donanemab, sold under the brand name Kisunla, which targets the beta-amyloid that builds up in the brain and is considered one of the most advanced approaches to slowing the disease’s progression in early-stage patients. New data in the fight against Alzheimer’s “These treatments have been approved in the European Union since September 2025,” Kaponidis said. He added that his team managed to identify the first patient meeting the strict criteria and secured special import permission for the drug through a named request to the Pharmaceutical Services. The treatment is intended exclusively for patients in the early stages of the disease with very mild symptoms, and is not suitable for patients with advanced dementia, he explained. It is administered intravenously, as an infusion, once a month, and comes with a strict monitoring protocol requiring an MRI scan before treatment begins and after the second, third, fourth and seventh doses to catch any potential side effects early. “At least five MRI scans are required in total during the treatment,” he said. Asked whether other patients in Cyprus could receive the treatment, Kaponidis said several are already being evaluated. “The criteria are very strict,” he said, adding that he hopes to identify more patients who could benefit from the treatment, which, according to clinical studies, significantly slows the disease’s progression and stabilises it for at least three years. He noted that this timeframe reflects the data available so far, since the drug is very new. He was clear that the treatment is not experimental. “It has already been approved in Europe and the United States,” he said, and it stabilises the condition. Explaining how it works, he said monoclonal antibodies attach to the beta-amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brain, allowing the immune system to recognise and clear them. “PET scans also confirm the treatment’s effectiveness, showing plaques decrease after 12 to 18 months,” he said. On cost, the professor said it is a particularly expensive treatment. “I hope that in future the HIO will include it in its therapeutic arsenal,” he said, to reduce the financial burden on patients. In this case, he said, the patient’s family decided to cover the full cost privately. He explained that the number of vials increases gradually over the course of treatment: one vial in the first month, two in the second, and a maximum of four vials per session for the remaining months. “A particularly expensive treatment, which lasts from 12 to 18 months,” he said. Asked whether there is an age limit, Kaponidis was clear. “There is no age limit,” he said. Alzheimer’s occurs more often in older people, he added, but the most important factor is that diagnosis happens at a very early stage, even during mild cognitive impairment, before it develops into fully established dementia. He noted there is a specific screening protocol to determine which patients meet the conditions for the treatment. On the rise in dementia cases, he said this is mainly down to two factors: rising life expectancy, as advances in cardiology and neurology mean more people survive serious cardiovascular or stroke events and reach older ages, where the likelihood of dementia increases; and greater awareness and better diagnosis than in the past. In previous years, he said, many attributed symptoms to “arteriosclerosis” and believed nothing could be done. “Today we know there are treatment options and better support,” he said, for both patients and their families. Youngest patient was 53 Kaponidis said that while Alzheimer’s usually appears in older people, early-onset cases do occur. “The youngest patient I have diagnosed in Cyprus was 53 years old,” he said. The patient showed memory problems and behavioural changes, which prompted both his family and his colleagues to seek medical help, he said, and the necessary tests confirmed early-onset Alzheimer’s. 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