Lecanemab: A New Treatment for Alzheimer’s
Overview
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that over a period of time damages and destroys nerve cells in the brain. AD. AD is a progressive, long-term neurological disorder that worsens cognitive skills, memory, and communication abilities leading to a performative decline in daily tasks. Characterized by the accumulation of extracellular amyloid beta (Aβ) plaque and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) of tau in the brain, these account for synapse loss and neuronal death in the brain. Throughout the disorder, AD leads to gradual losses in cognitive functions due to the impairment of the primary part of the brain: the hippocampus. Through this, there becomes the loss in abilities to remember things, reasoning, language, recognition of surroundings, as well as behavioral changes.
Lecanemab
In 2023, The Food and Drug Administration, which regulated new treatments and regulations, accelerated the approval of a new Alzhimers drug called lecanemab. Lecanemab has shown to moderately slow cognitive decline through the early stages of AD.
The FDA’s early decision followed Phase III of clinical trials published in the January 5 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The director of Yale's Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Christopher van Dych, led the paper and was a paid consultant for the pharmaceutical company Eisai, funding the trials.
The clinical trials of the new drug found Lecanemab reduced the accumulation of amyloid in early AD disease, showcasing decline in cognitive and function at 18 months. Specifically, in a trial involving 1,795 participants showing early-stages of Alzhmiers, they were given lecanemab and showed a clinical decline by 27% . The participants receiving the treatment showed a reduction in amyloid through the usage of imaging tests, and usually reached normal levels by the end of the trial. A common side effect of Lecanemab included headaches, dizziness, and Aria, which shows the form of brain swelling and bleeding.
Further Drugs
Besides Lecanemab, other drugs were found to be successful to treat AD. The most known, Aducanmab, was approved by the FDA in June 2021. This drug was the first therapy which demonstrated the removal of amyloid and show likeness to reduce the decline in cognitive functions. Yet, the approval of the drugs and treatments for AD faced criticism in the scientific community. This is due to the fact of the timeline they were approved and argued to be approved too quickly.
Written by Jasmine Segal
Citations
“FDA Approves Breakthrough Alzheimer’s Drug Lecanemab.” The Guardian, 6 Jan. 2023, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/06/fda-approves-breakthrough-alzheimers-drug-lecanemab.
MacMillan, Carrie. “Lecanemab, the New Alzheimer’s Treatment: 3 Things to Know.” Yale Medicine, 19 Jan. 2023, www.yalemedicine.org/news/lecanemab-leqembi-new-alzheimers-drug#:~:text=The%20Food%20and%20Drug%20Administration,stage%20cases%20of%20the%20disease.
“Promising Early Trial Results from New Alzheimer’s Drug Donanemab.” Alzheimer’s Society, 3 May 2023.
