Here are some things to know about the FDA's approval of lecanemab, to be sold under the brand name Leqembi.
A woman holds a model of a human brain in her hands on June 1, 2019 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. — the first with clear-cut evidence that it can slow, by several months, the mind-robbing disease.
It targets a slightly different form of that amyloid, possibly explaining why it proved successful in a rigorous study while a long list of prior amyloid-targeting drugs have failed, said Dr. Sam Gandy, an Alzheimer’s expert at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.The FDA cleared a similar drug named Aduhelm in 2021 even though studies never proved it really helped patients, a move that triggered scathing criticism from a congressional investigation.
Experts are divided over how meaningful a benefit that is. It may be hard for families to tell if a loved one's decline has slowed, Gandy said.Other experts say slowing the disease early on, when people still function well, is important even if it's not that easy to spot. Toronto Star reporter Joe Hall's brain scan images taken during his visit to the Toronto Western Hospital's MRI room on July 29, 2015. While the brain swelling and bleeds may cause only minimal symptoms such as dizziness and vision problems, they occasionally can be severe — and several Leqembi users have died while taking the drug, including two who were on blood-thinning medications.
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