July 27 (Reuters) -

Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding plans to investigate

whether an experimental medicine can delay or prevent

Alzheimer's disease symptoms, it said on Sunday, as a part of

the company's growing development programme for the disease.

The clinical trial of the drug, Trontinemab, will target

people who are at risk of cognitive decline and will aim to

delay or prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer's, Roche said in a

statement.

Trontinemab is designed so that the drug is transported

across the blood brain barrier-protective blood vessels that

prevent chemicals in the bloodstream from entering the brain -

in hopes of delivering more of the treatment to the brain.

Rivals like Eli Lilly ( LLY ) have been making progress

in the complicated field of Alzheimer's recently, with Lilly's

drug Kisunla getting a recommendation for approval for certain

patients from the European Medicines Agency last week. Kisunla

is already approved in the U.S.

Treatments for Alzheimer's approved so far, including

Eisai ( ESALF ) and Biogen's Leqembi and Lilly's

Kisunla, are designed to clear sticky clumps of a protein called

amyloid beta in the brain. They carry hefty price tags as well

as the risk of serious brain swelling and bleeding.