The Food and Drug Administration has approved Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug donanemab, which will be sold under the brand name Kisunla.
Breaking news: The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday granted approval to a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug, concluding that the benefits of modestly slowing progression of the devastating disease outweigh its risks, drugmaker Eli Lilly announced. https://t.co/2cCuNXwewU
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 2, 2024
From the Washington Post:
Kisunla slowed the cognitive and functional decline in patients with mild cognitive impairment by 35 percent over 18 months, a clinical trial found. The drug works by clearing a sticky plaque in the brain called amyloid beta, which is associated with the disease.
The drug is administered by infusion once a month. A key feature of Eli Lilly’s approach is that treatment with the drug could be discontinued once a patient’s amyloid levels are reduced to a certain level.
The estimated cost for a six-month course of the therapy is $12,522. A full year of treatment is protected to cost $32,000, according to the drugmaker. However, many people probably will not pay the full list price in part since Medicare is expected to cover the treatment for certain patients.
Eli Lilly is now conducting trials to determine if Kisunla can prevent Alzheimer’s by clearing amyloid in patients that don’t yet show symptoms. Related: New Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Early Promise Nearly 7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, the fifth-leading cause of death for adults over 65, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Read more at the Washington Post.
Breaking News: The FDA has granted approval of Kisunla (donanemab) for the treatment of people living with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. We celebrate Kisunla’s approval, as more treatment options mean a greater opportunity for #MoreTime. https://t.co/vBTSicKyZ4
— Alzheimer’s Association (@alzassociation) July 2, 2024
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