The race to treat Alzheimer’s is suddenly looking a lot less like a slow march and more like a busy freeway, and UNLV is parked right in the middle of it. Researcher Jeffrey L. Cummings says the global Alzheimer’s drug pipeline has never been more crowded, with dozens of new trials and a wider mix of biological targets giving patients and families a fresh dose of cautious hope. His 10th annual snapshot of the field finds more drugs and more strategies moving through clinical testing, helped along by sharper biomarker tools and smarter trial design. For Las Vegas, the report quietly upgrades UNLV’s status in tracking and recruiting for studies that could bring new options closer to home.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, the paper in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions identified 192 active clinical trials testing 158 drugs. That is up from 182 trials and 138 drugs in 2025 and 164 trials and 127 drugs in 2024. The Association’s summary says those 192 trials include 54 Phase 3 studies, 89 in Phase 2, and 49 in Phase 1, with 59 new trials entering the pipeline in the past year alone.
As FOX5 Las Vegas reported, Cummings, the study’s lead author and director of UNLV's clinical trials observatory, put it bluntly: “Alzheimer's is no longer an untreatable disease.” He pointed to 29 Phase 2 readouts expected in 2026 that could show how competing approaches stack up. He told the station the field is moving past an amyloid-dominant strategy and toward combination and biomarker-driven trials. The local coverage underscores what the report’s authors call a “basis for optimism,” while warning that the real test will be how much clinical benefit patients actually feel.
Pipeline Shift: New Targets and Repurposed Drugs
The review shows just how much the science has pivoted. The share of drugs that target amyloid has dropped from roughly 33% in 2016 to about 18 to 20% today, while inflammation and immune-focused approaches have climbed from around 6% to nearly 18 to 20% of the pipeline, according to data compiled by UNLV's observatory. The report also counts 56 repurposed agents, drugs already approved for other conditions, which now make up roughly 35% of the candidates under study. Researchers say that kind of repurposing can speed development. The shift in targets is paired with changes in trial design, including much heavier use of blood-based biomarkers to identify participants earlier in the disease course.
Donanemab Prevention Test Could Reshape Strategy
Cummings singled out one closely watched prevention trial of donanemab that is testing whether the antibody can prevent or delay symptoms in people who are cognitively normal but test positive on blood biomarkers. Its outcome could change how researchers think about treating the very earliest stages of the disease. Coverage from PR Newswire notes that several pivotal Phase 2 and Phase 3 readouts are expected this year, which could accelerate interest in combination regimens and biomarker-guided approaches. If those results come back positive, experts say clinical use and regulatory debates could broaden beyond the current early-symptomatic population.
What It Means for Patients and Local Clinics
For patients in Nevada, the report and UNLV's Clinical Trials Observatory translate into a likely increase in trial opportunities, as researchers lean on blood tests and imaging to screen for highly targeted studies. UNLV's platform, along with national networks such as ALZ-NET, is helping expand real-world safety monitoring and site participation, according to the institutions. Patients who are curious about trials are urged to talk with their neurologist about eligibility or reach out directly to UNLV research programs and national trial registries to learn about current enrollment.
Not everyone is convinced the new wave of drugs will translate into big wins for patients. A recent evidence review summarized by Drugs.com and based on a Cochrane analysis concluded that approved anti-amyloid antibodies offer limited clinically meaningful benefit for many people. The Alzheimer's Association and the drug makers have pushed back, pointing to longer follow-up and real-world registry data that suggest benefit for at least some patients, and the pipeline paper calls for long-term monitoring to sort out those competing views. Researchers say the Phase 2 and Phase 3 readouts due this year, together with registry data, will be crucial for judging whether the swelling pipeline delivers real-world gains.
For now, Cummings and his colleagues argue that the sheer increase in trials, along with the broader range of targets being tested, is enough reason to keep a close eye on 2026. Key results could reshape how care is delivered and how future trials are built. UNLV is positioned to help recruit and report on local participation as biomarker-driven studies expand. No one is promising instant cures, but the report frames this moment as a turning point in how Alzheimer’s is being studied.
