A team of German scientists has devised a new drug to fight the most common form of dementia - Alzheimer’s disease - it was reported on Thursday.

The discovery is a breakthrough in the search for an effective tool against the disease, although it may not be ready for human use for another decade.

The scientists synthesized a compound that targets a key biological pathway essential to the development of the disease. This compound effectively blocks an enzyme responsible for the build-up of sticky deposits, or plaque, in the brain by attaching to exactly the right spot on the cell wall where the toxic activity takes place, the report says. The formation of plaques is believed to play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

“This process of cleaving takes place inside cells. We have constructed an inhibitor which binds outside, on the cell membrane, and goes into the cell where the cleavage occurs,” said study lead author Dr. Kai Simons, a professor of cell biology at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, the Washington Post reports.

Dr. Simons and his colleagues tested the new drug on mice and fruit fly animal models, injecting it directly into their brains. They discovered that the drug reduced plaque formation by 50 percent within four hours.

Following this breakthrough discovery, they are conducting further animal tests to see if the compound given by mouth or standard injection can pass the “blood-brain barrier.”

“It’s clear that when it is injected into the brain of mice it works. The next stage is to see if can crass the blood-brain barrier…if we get it through, it has huge potential,” Simons told Reuters.

If all goes well, a version of this drug could be available for use by patients in five to 10 years, Dr. Simons said.

According to the World Health Organization, there are about 18 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease. By 2025, that number is expected to reach 34 million. Alzheimer’s causes a progressive loss of memory and mental faculties, which can be devastating for the patients concerned and those around them.

Existing drugs like Aricept from Pfizer and Eisai, Exelon by Novartis and Razadyne or Reminyl from Johnson & Johnson and Shire can ease symptoms but do not stop the disease.

The study’s findings appeared in the April 25 issue of the journal Science.