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January 11, 2023

New Alzheimer's Drug Offers Hope to Some Patients But Comes at High Cost
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In medical news, the FDA has fast-tracked the approval of a new drug
that appears to slow down Alzheimer's disease in its early stages.
Scientists say lecanemab, marketed as Leqembi, is an exciting
development in treating the neurodegenerative disorder, which affects
around 6 million people in the U.S.

Dr. Thomas Wisniewski: "Thus far we've had no treatments that slowed
down or prevented the progression of Alzheimer's disease. What we've had
is symptomatic drugs, that they help with some of the clinical symptoms
of Alzheimer's disease, but they do nothing to slow down the basic
disease progression, the underlying pathology."

But it's not clear how many people the intravenous treatment will help,
as it comes in at a yearly cost of $26,500, and Medicare will only cover
the cost if patients are enrolled in a clinical trial. It's possible
lecanemab, which is made by Biogen and Eisai, will be fully covered once
it receives full FDA approval.


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