The staff of Fortune recently assembled its predictions for 2016. Here’s one of our forecasts.
Few diseases have been as difficult for drug companies to conquer as Alzheimer’s. 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. We’re betting that 2016 will deliver the long overdue breakthrough that changes that: A medicine that actually slows the progression of Alzheimer’s. Though it’s not a perfect treatment, Eli Lilly’s (LLY) solanezumab—a drug 15 years in the making—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.
This article is part of the 2016 Fortune Crystal Ball, a package of 33 predictions about business, politics and the economy by the writers and editors of Fortune. To see the entire package, click here.