The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Leqembi accelerated approval on Jan. 6, 2023. It is the seventh drug the FDA has approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
The generic name of the drug is Lecanemab. It has been developed by the Japanese company Eisai in partnership with the U.S. company Biogen. These are the same companies that developed the sixth drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Aduhelm (generic name aducanumab).
Lecanemab Is the First FDA-Granted Anti-amyloid Drug to Improve Cognitive Function
The first five FDA-approved drugs are donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, memantine, and memantine combined with donepezil. These drugs can temporarily relieve symptoms. Patients may have some amelioration in cognitive function, but the underlying brain pathologies of Alzheimer’s disease cannot be reduced or stopped, and the course of the disease cannot be altered.
Stephanie Zhang, Ph.D.
Author
Stephanie Zhang, Ph.D., is a columnist for The Epoch Times, focusing on brain and neurodegenerative diseases. She has over 20 years of research experience in neuroscience and neurotoxicity, and was a former research scientist in the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center at The University of Mississippi Medical Center. She earned her doctorate in public health.
