First Alzheimer Drug Tested And Approved In US
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug that has been shown to slow the course of Alzheimer’s disease.
Experiments have shown that Leqembi slows down the progression of the disease. The problem is that it is very expensive. Providing the drug for a year costs about $26,500 per year.
Leqembi received “expedited” FDA approval in January, but the regulator required a confirmatory test. The standard approval means that Leqembi will now be available under the government’s Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs. Since Alzheimer’s disease mostly affects the elderly, most patients with this disease will be able to receive treatment costs from the state program, which is intended for people over 65 years of age.
However, the drug is only approved for people with early forms of Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, or mild dementia who have been confirmed to have amyloid plaques in the brain. Experts estimate that this group makes up about one-sixth of the more than 6 million Americans currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
The FDA claims that a drug that targets the underlying process of Alzheimer’s disease has shown clinical benefit and that it is a safe and effective treatment.