US authorities have just cleared Leqembi, an injection therapy offered for early stage Alzheimer’s disease.
More than 55 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s according to the WHO. Research is trying to develop effective treatments for delay cognitive decline. In the United States, the American Medicines Agency (FDA) has cleared January 6 a new treatment against diseases: Lequembi.
“Alzheimer’s disease immeasurably hampers the lives of those who suffer from it and has devastating effects on their loved ones”shares Billy Dunn, MD, director of the Office of Neuroscience at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a statement. This treatment option is the last therapy targeting and influencing the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s disease, rather than just treating it Lthe symptoms of the disease.”
A boon for the brain
Administered by intravenous injections every the two weeks, the treatment has the active ingredient is called lecanemab. It targets beta-amyloid proteins. “Good that the specific causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not fully known, is characterized by changes in the brain“among other things by the presence of beta-amyloid plaques “that they bring neuron loss and their connections. These changes affect a person’s ability to remember and think”explains the health authority.
Before being approved, the drug was tested during a test conducted among 856 patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The latter presented a mild cognitive impairment or a mild stage of dementia with the presence of beta-amyloid plaques. The volunteers were divided into two groups : One group received the treatment, the other a placebo. As reported by the FDA, the researchers noted that in patients who received Lequembi (10 milligrams/kilogram every two weeks), there was a “significant” reduction. cerebral amyloid plaque in 18 months around. In contrast, there was no reduction in amyloid-beta plaque in the placebo group.
Several side effects
The drug therapy is then considered effective, but the FDA still warns of adverse effects related to the infusion, “with symptoms such as flu-like symptoms, nauseavomiting and changes in blood pressure”and other related to the images amyloid-related (ARIA) necessary for the prescription : “temporary swelling in areas of the brain”, “small bloody spots in or on the surface of the brain”, “headacheconfusion, dizziness, vision changes, nausea and seizures”.
Treatment with Leqembi can be given to patients with mild cognitive impairment or a stage of mild dementia pathology, “population in which the treatment was studied in clinical trials”.
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