A new study says if a drug is quickly developed that delays the onset of Alzheimer's Disease it would save the U.S. economy trillions of dollars.
The group, which goes by the acronym ACT-AD, claims this is the first economic estimate of the impact new drugs could have.
The results show that if an Alzheimer's treatment were to come to market by 2010--and if the drug delayed the onset of the disease by up to five years--the American economy could save nearly $4 trillion by 2050.
Nearly five million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's but that number is forecast to possibly triple by mid-century.
The group that did the study gets some of its funding from Wyeth, Elan and MyriadGenetics, all of which are working on Alzheimer's treatments. Many other companies also have Alzheimer's drugs in development.