Fingers crossed for Alzheimer’s breakthrough in 2016

As someone from a family impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, I’m hopeful that 2016 will bring a breakthrough in the treatment of the illness.
Fortune magazine writer Erica Fry predicted that a new drug from Eli Lilly will show promise in the fight against Alzheimer’s.
“Few diseases have been as difficult for drug companies to conquer as Alzheimer’s,” she wrote. “The five existing therapies treat symptoms of the memory-robbing condition, not the disease itself. And between 2002 and 2012, a staggering 99.6% of drugs in development failed.”
Eli Lilly’s solanezumab, a drug 15 years in development, will pass muster in clinical tests and be well on its way to FDA approval as a therapy for mild Alzheimer’s by year’s end, she predicted. The medicine could actually slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, she said.
Jim Cramer, former hedge fund manager, co-founder of TheStreet and host of CNBC’s Mad Money, also is bullish on the drug and its prospects for Eli Lilly.
“Eli Lilly (LLY) could go to $100 a share as investors start seeing some results from its Alzheimer's drug,” he predicted. Shares closed Thursday at 84.26.

Photo: Eli Lilly scientists. (Company photo)