The first drug to slow Alzheimer's disease will soon be on the Market in the USA, BBC reports.

Biogen says it will soon seek regulatory approval in the US for the "groundbreaking" drug, called aducanumab.

It plans to file the paperwork in early 2020 and has its sights on Europe too.

There are no drugs currently

Currently, there are no drugs that can slow the disease. Existing ones only help with symptoms.

Approval processes could take a year or two. If successful, the company aims to initially offer the drug to patients previously enrolled in clinical studies of the drug.

Surprising announcement

The announcement is somewhat surprising because the company had discontinued work on the drug in March 2019, after disappointing trial results.

But the company says a new analysis of a larger dataset of the same studies shows that higher doses of aducanumab can provide a significant benefit to patients with early Alzheimer's, slowing their clinical decline so they preserve more of their memory and every day living skills - things that the disease usually robs.

Aducanumab targets the protein amyloid

Aducanumab targets a protein called amyloid that forms abnormal deposits the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

Biogen's chief executive Michel Vounatsos said: "We are hopeful about the prospect of offering patients the first therapy to reduce the clinical decline of Alzheimer's disease, BBC reports.