the highly anticipated Leqembi treatment finally approved by the European Medicines Agency – Libération

The European regulator approved Thursday, November 14, a treatment to reduce cognitive decline in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. It will be intended for patients who have not yet reached an advanced stage of the disease.

The fight against Alzheimer’s disease is progressing slowly. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) finally authorized the drug Leqembi on Thursday, November 14, for certain patients. This highly anticipated treatment is intended to reduce cognitive decline in patients who have not yet developed an advanced stage of the disease.

Last July, the EMA opposed marketing this treatment on the market, considering that the drug did not counterbalance the risk of serious side effects, including potential bleeding in the brain. “A review concluded that the benefits outweigh the risks in a limited patient population,” considered the European agency this time. Leqembi will be used to treat “mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease” she adds, and only for patients less likely to suffer from certain serious health problems and brain hemorrhage.

The drug, developed by the Japanese pharmaceutical laboratory Eisai and the American manufacturer Biogen, was authorized in January 2023 in the United States for patients who have not reached an advanced stage of the disease. It is also marketed in Japan and China. The British drug regulator approved the treatment last August.

The exact cause of Alzheimer’s disease remains poorly understood. Observation of patients’ brains, however, shows the presence of amyloid plaques, which form around their neurons and ultimately destroy them. This is what causes the memory loss characteristic of the disease. The Leqembi treatment, administered intravenously once every two weeks, can, according to clinical trials, reduce these amyloid plaques.