July 2026 – UKDTN

UKDTN was proud to participate in the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2026, held in London. Bringing together more than 10,000 researchers, clinicians, industry leaders and healthcare professionals from across the globe, AAIC remains the world’s largest and most influential conference dedicated to advancing dementia research.

UKDTN International Advisory Board convenes for the first time

A major milestone during the conference was the inaugural meeting of the UKDTN International Advisory Board. Chaired by Professor Jeff Cummings and co-chaired by Professor Reisa Sperling, the Board brings together internationally recognised leaders in dementia research to provide strategic guidance, helping ensure that UKDTN remains aligned with global scientific priorities while supporting innovation in clinical trial delivery.

Celebrating the strength of the UK’s dementia research ecosystem

UKDTN was delighted to co-host Celebrating Promise and Progress: A UK Dementia Research Community Reception alongside Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK), Dementias Platform UK (DPUK), LifeArc, The BARBARA Alliance, the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) and Race Against Dementia.

The reception showcased the breadth and strength of the UK’s collaborative dementia research landscape, highlighting the shared commitment across charities, academia, the NHS, industry and government to accelerate the development of new treatments. Guests were welcomed by Lord Vallance, who emphasised the importance of partnership and collaboration in addressing one of society’s greatest healthcare challenges.

Leadership on the international stage

We also congratulate our Director, Professor Catherine Mummery, who served as Chair of the AAIC 2026 Scientific Program Committee. In this role, Professor Mummery led the development of an outstanding scientific programme that showcased the latest advances across the full spectrum of dementia research.

Promising advances in Alzheimer’s disease therapeutics

AAIC 2026 also featured encouraging developments in Alzheimer’s disease drug development. Among the most anticipated presentations were the topline results from Biogen’s Phase 2 CELIA study, delivered by Prof. Cath Mummery. The study evaluated diranersen (BIIB080), an investigational tau-targeting antisense oligonucleotide for early Alzheimer’s disease.

The results demonstrated robust reductions in tau biomarkers alongside encouraging evidence of slower cognitive decline across all dose groups, supporting Biogen’s decision to advance diranersen into Phase 3 clinical development. These findings represent another important step forward in the growing pipeline of disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s disease.

UKDTN Clinical Trial Fellows at AAIC 2026

Looking ahead

Events such as AAIC demonstrate that accelerating progress in dementia research depends on strong international collaboration between academia, healthcare systems, industry, charities, regulators and, most importantly, people living with dementia and their families.

We would like to thank everyone we had the opportunity to meet throughout the week. We look forward to building on these conversations and continuing to work with partners across the world to making UK the go-to destination for early-phase dementia clinical trials.

Promising Phase 2 findings presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2026 have demonstrated that the investigational therapy diranersen slowed cognitive decline while significantly reducing tau pathology in people with early Alzheimer’s disease, marking an important advance in the search for disease-modifying treatments. The results were presented by Professor Cath Mummery, Director of the UK Dementia Trials Network (UKDTN)

Diranersen slows cognitive decline and reduces tau pathology in encouraging Phase 2 trial results presented at AAIC 2026.

The global CELIA trial enrolled 416 people with early Alzheimer’s disease and evaluated diranersen, an investigational antisense therapy designed to reduce the production of tau protein, one of the key pathological hallmarks of the disease. Across 18 months of treatment, the study demonstrated consistent clinical benefits across all doses tested, with the strongest effects observed in participants receiving the 60 mg dose.

Compared with placebo, participants receiving the 60 mg dose experienced:

42% slower cognitive decline on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog);
50% slower decline on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE); and
26% slower decline on the Clinical Dementia Rating–Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB), a measure of cognition and daily functioning.

The study also demonstrated substantial biological effects, reducing cerebrospinal fluid total tau levels by 50–65%. Importantly, diranersen is the first tau-directed therapy in a Phase 2 trial to show reductions in both cerebrospinal fluid tau and brain tau pathology measured by PET imaging.

Professor Cath Mummery said:

“The CELIA data provide some of the clearest evidence that reducing tau pathology can translate into clinically meaningful benefit. The magnitude of tau reduction and cognitive benefit observed in CELIA is among the most compelling reported to date in Alzheimer’s disease drug development and supports advancing diranersen to Phase 3 development.”

The treatment was generally well tolerated, with most adverse events reported as mild or moderate. More than 90% of participants who completed the placebo-controlled phase elected to continue into the long-term extension study.

The results underscore the growing momentum in Alzheimer’s disease therapeutic development and the importance of a strong clinical trials infrastructure to evaluate innovative treatments efficiently. As more disease-modifying therapies progress through clinical development, the UK Dementia Trials Network (UKDTN) is working with partners across the UK to strengthen the nation’s capacity to deliver high-quality dementia clinical trials and accelerate access to research opportunities for people living with dementia.

The CELIA trial was sponsored by Biogen, with UK participation supported by the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre. Biogen has announced plans to advance diranersen into Phase 3 clinical development, with additional analyses from the CELIA study and its ongoing long-term extension expected to be presented at future scientific meetings.