Promising news from Big Pharma regarding an experimental drug to effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease is raising hopes despite continuing questions.
What is it called?
Lecanemab
Who makes it?
Biogen (third largest biotech company in the world) and Eisai Co., Ltd.
What is the research showing?
“In a randomized, placebo-controlled study of nearly 1,800 people who were in the early stages of memory loss, those who were taking lecanemab had about 27% less decline after 18 months than those who did not, the companies said. ” Brenda Goodman, CNN
Haven’t we heard this before?
Sort of – there have been 16 drugs which removed amyloid plaque in the brain (believed to be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease) however, while the drugs did indeed remove the plaque, patients did not show significant improvement.
Are there nay sayers?
Always – Dr. Constantine Lyketsos (a psychiatrist and professor at John Hopkins School of Medicine) doesn’t think the results are that different from another Alzheimer’s treatment drug released in 2021 – aducanumab. Lyketsos attributes the study’s positive results to a larger sample size.
Are these companies public?
Yes – Biogen trades on the NASDAQ under BIIB and Eisai trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Here are some documents available right now on RealDealDocs:
Sources
After promising data, experts say many questions remain over an experimental Alzheimer’s drug
Image courtesy of Steve Buissinne