New Alzheimer’s Drug on the Way, Could Arrive in a Few Months
Leqembi was approved by the FDA in July
A widely lauded yet controversial new Alzheimer’s drug could hit shelves in a matter of months.
Leading health care facilities, including the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California, told Reuters they are preparing to offer Leqembi to patients soon.
The drug, manufactured jointly by Biogen and Eisai, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July. In trials, it was shown to slow disease progression by 27%. It’s designed to reduce the buildup of beta-amyloids in the brain, which are harmful proteins thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. It works best in the disease’s early stages.
Leqembi made headlines when it got approval because it’s the first drug that’s been shown to slow the disease’s progression, clearing a hurdle neurologists had long sought to.
Medicare will cover Leqembi for patients experiencing symptoms of dementia and who have confirmed amyloid plaques. The drug costs around $26,500 for a year’s worth of treatment, and a co-pay could be as much as $5,000.
Leqembi’s complications have caused some controversy. In trials, the drug has caused brain swelling and bleeding. The beta-amyloid plaques it’s supposed to clear up in the brain also appear in blood vessels, and experts think that the drug acting on blood vessels in the brain may cause these complications. The drug was linked to the death of three participants in clinical trials.
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Aduhelm, Biogen’s previous Alzheimer’s treatment, caused controversy when the FDA approved it despite there not being robust evidence that it worked. Focus at Biogen has since shifted to Leqembi.
Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia. More than 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, two thirds of which are women. Experts fear the figure could more than double by 2050 because of a population that lives longer and risk factors such as obesity becoming more frequent in the population.
About 11% of people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer’s disease. It is chronic and progressive, meaning that it gets worse as time goes on. There are no drugs available that can reverse cognitive decline associated with it.
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