Lecanemab has recently received approval for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, Wolk Center for Memory Health, Hebrew SeniorLife & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Linus Health, CMO, shares how this will impact the use of aducanumab, which was similarly approved in June 2021. Both aducanumab and lecanemab are anti-amyloid immunotherapies that successfully clear amyloid from the brain. However, recent data from lecanemab’s Phase III trial, Clarity AD (NCT03887455), demonstrated that over the 18-month trial period, lecanemab slowed cognitive decline in patients with early AD by 27%. Aducanumab, on the other hand, reported no evidence of such measurable clinical benefit. Concerning safety, both drugs increase the risk of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), however ARIA rates were lower with lecanemab than aducanumab. Lecanemab therefore provides a greater benefit/risk ratio than aducanumab. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that they would not cover the costs of anti-amyloid antibodies unless within an approved prospective study, however they may review this for lecanemab. This interview took place at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease Congress 2022 in San Francisco.
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