DES MOINES, Iowa — A closely-watched new treatment for Alzheimer's has officially received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration, and local advocates are celebrating the decision.
The drug is called Leqembi. It's the first treatment for Alzheimer's that's able to slow the cognitive decline caused by the disease.
Leqembi received conditional approval from the FDA in January. However, Medicare refused to cover the cost until it received full clearance. A year's supply of the drug costs upwards of $26,000, so Thursday's decision means a milestone treatment is suddenly a lot more affordable.
"We are just at the beginning, very, very beginning of treatments here. And we hope every drug or every treatment that comes out in the future will not only be cheaper, but improve health outcomes," said Robyn Mills, Director of Public Policy of the Alzheimer's Association's Iowa chapter.
In a 1,800-patient study, Leqembi was found to slow memory loss and thinking decline by about five months in Alzheimer's patients who were in the early stages of dealing with the disease. It cannot totally stop that decline, but the drug's approval is still a major step forward.
"Think of all those graduations, those weddings that these people can go to if you just delay the severity of the disease that much longer. It's not a cure yet, but it can give people more time to do all those special things," Mills said.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, there were 66,000 Iowans age 65 or older with Alzheimer's in 2020. That number is expected to rise as high as 73,000 by 2025. But as research into new treatments continues, advocates say the work isn't over just yet.
"We've got to get doctors and health care organizations to really recognize that all there are treatments for Alzheimer's now and that we need to have an early detection so that we can be a part of these of these drugs and allow these drugs to work," Mills said.
Eisai, the manufacturer of Leqembi, says that approximately 100,000 Americans could be eligible to receive the drug by 2026.
FROM SEPTEMBER 2022: Alzheimer's drug shows promise in early results of study