BOSTON -- An experimental drug is showing promise for people with Alzheimer's disease, researchers say.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported that Flurizan, currently in the final phase of clinical trials at the Boston University Medical Center, appears to slow the progression of Alzheimer's and in some patients, even helped bring back memory.

Patricia Williams knows the pain of Alzheimer's disease well. Her 89-year-old mother, Rose, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's two years ago.

"I was devastated. I just went into a room and just cried because I knew it was a disease that gets progressively worse," Williams said.

But Williams' mother has been getting better, not worse -- since enrolling in a clinical trial months ago for the experimental drug Flurizan.

"There is a slight change. She is more peppier," said Mayuri Thakuria, of BU Medical Center.

Researchers studying the drug have found that in people with mild or early-stage Alzheimer's, Flurizan slowed the progression of the disease and in a few cases helped patients regain some cognitive ability.

"That's an encouraging trend for a new drug," said Dr. Robert Green, of BU Medical Center.

It's the first of a new class of drugs that targets plaques called beta amyloids that jam up in the brain, causing problems with communication and memory.

"We hope that it's actually reducing the production of this beta amyloid and therefore killing fewer brain cells as the disease progresses," said Green.

Doctors won't call their findings significant until they have the results from Phase 3 of the study -- but they're encouraged by what the drug could offer Alzheimer's patients.

"They would have more years of functioning with their family, knowing who they were being able to carry out their daily lives with perhaps only mild memory problems instead of the devastating cognitive affects of Alzheimer's disease," Green.

For Williams, the drug's potential offers hope.

"If she's happy and she's doing well and it stops the progression or slows the progression of the Alzheimer's, that is good for me," Williams said.

So far, the researchers say they found no major side effects with use of the drug.