It is still experimental, but it gives hope. It is an effective drug against Alzheimer’s disease. It reduced cognitive and functional impairment by 27% in a clinical trial. Approval of this therapy is expected early next year.
Japanese drug maker Eisai and its U.S. partner, Biogen, said in a statement. The slowdown in deterioration was “highly statistically significant.” The drug is called lecanemab.
Small breakthrough
“A 27% decrease in impairment was achieved. It seems like a modest effect. But for Alzheimer’s patients, this could be very significant.” Gil Rabinovici, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, said.
Full FDA approval will be sought for the drug after obtaining accelerated approval. The treatment would then be covered by Medicare and other insurers. The trial included nearly 1,800 patients with mild cognitive impairment.
The full results of the study will be published in late November at an Alzheimer’s conference in San Francisco. Clinical trial participants were assessed in several areas. The rate of their decline was measured, including memory, orientation and problem solving. After six months, the treatment group showed improvements over the placebo group
There were some side effects including brain swelling and bleeding. But the rates were within expectations, the companies said in the release.
Doubts
Some people don’t quite believe it is an effective Alzheimer’s drug. Critics have expressed skepticism about that approach. Why? Because of the multiple failures associated with drugs directed against amyloid
The trial results “test the amyloid hypothesis. The abnormal accumulation of [beta amiloide] in the brain is a major cause of Alzheimer’s disease.” So concludes Haruo Naito, CEO of Eisai.
