Doctors inclined to prescribe new Alzheimer’s drug despite concerns
Doctors who treat Alzheimer’s patients say they’re likely to prescribe Eisai and Biogen’s new therapy approved Friday, but sounded notes of caution over the lack of insurance coverage for the drug and a number of worrying side effects, including several reports of patient deaths.
The drug, which was known as lecanemab and will be sold under the brand name Leqembi, reduced the rate of cognitive decline by 27% in a study of nearly 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s, offering new hope after decades of failed clinical trials and controversy surrounding the approval of Aduhelm in 2021. The results, doctors stated, make the drug an option for patients like those in the trial, with mild cognitive impairment and elevated levels of amyloid, a protein in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s.
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