New Alzheimer’s drug slows disease in major clinical trial: ‘Blockbuster potential’

A new drug can slow the insidious impact of Alzheimer’s disease, a major clinical trial has found.

Patients taking the drug, known as lecanemab, showed a 27% decrease in cognitive decline compared to a control group, according to developers Biogen, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Eisai, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

“Starting as early as six months, across all time points, the treatment showed highly statistically significant changes in [dementia severity] from baseline compared to placebo,” the companies announced.

The news puts lecanemab — which is injected into a patient’s veins — one step closer to FDA approval.