{"id":235635,"date":"2025-10-31T09:14:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T09:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/235635\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T09:14:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T09:14:18","slug":"this-is-a-big-deal-health-canada-approves-1st-drug-to-slow-alzheimers-disease-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/235635\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This is a big deal\u2019: Health Canada approves 1st drug to slow Alzheimer\u2019s disease – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time, Health Canada has approved a new drug that can slow the progression of Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a> and it\u2019s giving new hope that the disease can be tackled early.<\/p>\n

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On Monday, Health Canada<\/a> announced approval for lecanemab<\/a>, commercially known as \u201cLeqembi.\u201d<\/p>\n

The treatment has already been approved in some other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Mexico and China. It is currently under regulatory review in 15 other countries and regions, including the European Union.<\/p>\n

Lecanemab is meant for adults who have a clinical diagnosis of mild dementia due to Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tWhy is it a \u2018big deal?\u2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Lecanemab is the first new Alzheimer\u2019s treatment approved by Health Canada in more than a decade and the first to target the underlying biology of the disease, the Alzheimer Society of Canada said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cClinical studies show that lecanemab can help slow decline in memory, thinking and daily activities for people with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer\u2019s disease,\u201d the society said in a statement, welcoming Health Canada\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a big deal,\u201d said Dr. Sharon Cohen, a neurologist and the medical director of Toronto Memory Program.<\/p>\n

Lecanemab targets amyloids, a sticky protein that develops in the brain in the early stages of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, Cohen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve only had treatments up until now that deal with symptoms later in the disease, not the early brain changes,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

By clearing amyloids and treating the disease early, the drug could help keep symptoms mild for a longer period for many patients, Cohen said.<\/p>\n

She said the treatment could do more than just \u201cboost memory for a little while.\u201d It could potentially slow the progression of the disease down.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people at four years of treatment are staying mild, are staying in their own homes, independent, so (the number of people) progressing to the moderate or severe stage of disease is really in the minority,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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Health Canada has limited use of the treatment for people who don\u2019t carry the APOE4 gene.<\/p>\n

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This genetic variant, carried by one-fifth of the world\u2019s population, significantly increases the risk of dementia.<\/p>\n

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The agency has placed the limitation because of the higher risk of side effects for anyone who may have that gene.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch shows that this group faces a much higher risk of brain swelling and small brain bleeds when taking the medication,\u201d the Alzheimer Society of Canada said.<\/p>\n

Health Canada\u2019s restriction is in line with international standards. The Alzheimer Society of Canada said Canadians should get tested for the gene to find out if they are eligible for treatment.<\/p>\n

However, the group warned that access to testing may vary across provinces and territories. This means that depending on where they live, Canadians may face delays in getting the treatment.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tWhen will it be available?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

In Canada, it can take up to two years after regulatory approval for new medicines to become publicly covered, the Alzheimer Society said.<\/p>\n

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However, people with private or extended benefits often gain access much sooner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Alzheimer Society of Canada urges faster, more coordinated reimbursement processes so that approval translates into timely, equitable access for all Canadians,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

Another challenge to access is the fact that the drug is administered intravenously, which requires safety monitoring through regular MRIs. Those may be hard to access outside of Canada\u2019s large urban centres.<\/p>\n

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Currently, the drug is not covered under any public drug plan.<\/p>\n

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It is now up to Canada\u2019s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) to decide if it should be paid for by the government. After that, each province and territory will decide on pricing and coverage.<\/p>\n

In the United States, where the drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, the list price<\/a> is US$258.64 for a 200 mg vial and US$646.61 for a 500 mg vial as of April 2025.<\/p>\n

Total annual costs for the treatment can run up to\u00a0$26,000 US a year in other countries, The Canadian Press reported, noting the drug must be administered every two weeks.<\/p>\n

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While this new treatment is \u201chelpful\u201d in some ways, \u201cthis is certainly not going to be the silver bullet that is going to resolve the issues of dementia,\u201d said Dr. Samir Sinha, Sinha, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou have to be put on it at a very, very early stage of the illness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This means frequent and routine MRIs are needed to check if a patient is having side effects such as microbleeds in the brain, he warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still don\u2019t know whether being on it for 18 or more months and paying a lot of money and going through a lot of burden of being on it is going to generate any clinically significant benefits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said while the treatment has \u201csome disease-modifying properties,\u201d it is by no means a cure for dementia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a medication that I would recommend for most of the patients that I see with dementia, given the side effect profile, given the cost, the fact that it\u2019s not covered, and the fact that I\u2019m not still sure whether it\u2019s going to generate a clinically significant or clinically meaningful benefit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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While experts warn against seeing this as a \u201ccure,\u201d Cohen said it is a major step forward in treating Alzheimer\u2019s disease nonetheless.<\/p>\n

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There are other treatments that tackle the disease in its early stages that might be coming down the pipeline soon, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonanemab is also an antibody that clears amyloid. It\u2019s very specific to amyloid plaque and it is under review by Health Canada,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect that it will gain Health Canada approval perhaps (by) the first quarter of 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

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