New Zealand scientists who think they've found a way to stop or slow the progression of Alzheimer's have been granted funding to develop their drugs.
Teams from Wellington's Victoria University and the UK's University of Liverpool have received $NZ850,000 ($A801,849) to advance the potential treatment they've been working on since 2008.
Their treatment uses the body's natural sugars to control the degradation of the proteins in the brain that cause memory loss.
Pre-clinical testing of the world-first research is expected to take a further two years and, if successful, clinical trials will follow.
"New drugs that can effectively halt or delay the progression of the disease are urgently needed and this funding is invaluable in progressing our world," Professor Peter Tyler said.