In what may be a rare victory in a sector where many medications have failed, Eisai and Biogen reported that their experimental Alzheimer’s drug slowed cognitive and functional decline in a trial comprising a sizable number of patients in the early stages of the disease.
The condition, which affects brain functioning, has roughly 55 million people worldwide, yet many pharmaceutical companies have been unsuccessful in discovering a cure.
Ronald Petersen, head of the Alzheimer’s Research Center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, commented on the findings of a trial on the new treatment that were released late Tuesday night: “It’s not a big effect, but it’s a positive effect.”
Lekanmab accomplished the study’s primary objective by slowing the disease’s course by 27% when compared to a placebo, which may give patients and their families who long for a successful treatment hope.
The Alzheimer’s Association, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to patient care and medical research, predicts that the number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s will nearly quadruple to 13 million by 2050, sparking a race to stop the disease’s progression.
According to Alzheimer’s Illness International, a group that coordinates international efforts to fight the disease, 139 million people may be affected worldwide by 2050 if a cure is not discovered.
A judgement from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which Eisai heads and which owns a portion of the licanmab partnership initiative, is anticipated in early January.
By the end of 2023, according to CEO Haruo Neto, Eisai hopes to have the medication fully licenced and commercialised in the United States, Europe, and Japan.
The results of the 1,800-patient trial, according to Esai, support the traditional belief that eliminating amyloid beta protein buildup in the brains of people with early-stage Alzheimer’s can reduce the disease’s course.
Positive findings from a study on an investigational Alzheimer’s medication
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