New Alzheimer’s Drugs Spark Hope for Patients and Cost Concerns for Medicare

(By Juliette Cubanski and Tricia Neuman for Kaiser Family Foundation published May 18, 2023)

The FDA’s accelerated approval of Aduhelm in June 2021 ended a 20-year dry spell in new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease after decades of clinical research. Now just two years later, the FDA is soon to announce whether it will grant full approval to another anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody treatment, Leqembi (lecanemab), after granting accelerated approval this past January. Clinical trial results showed that Leqembi, made by Eisai and Biogen, slowed the rate of cognitive decline and reduced amyloid plaques, the protein that accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease – though not without the risk of adverse events. FDA approval of a similar drug showing similar clinical benefit (Lilly’s donanemab) may not be far behind. Continue reading here…

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