Friedhoff and Buxbaum have shown two things: First, they showed that lovastatin could prevent cells from making beta amyloid in the test tube in doses that could be realistically given to patients.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Another possibility is that researchers need to test the amyloid drug on earlier stage patients.

FORBES: Eli Lilly Alzheimer's Disease Failure Bolsters Amyloid Theory Skeptics

In the late 1980s circumstantial evidence that condemned the role of Alzheimer's amyloid plaques began to build when Bruce Yankner, a Harvard biologist, showed in test tubes that the amyloid protein poisoned brain cells.

FORBES: Magazine Article