With the number of Alzheimer’s cases increasing, the medical community needs treatments for this disease now more than ever. One experimental drug, lecanemab, has been hailed by some experts as the treatment we have all been waiting for. But just how much hope should we place in lecanemab? In this Special Feature, we ask Alzheimer’s disease experts to explain how exactly lecanemab works, side effects, and what the most realistic perspective on this drug is.
A promising new Alzheimer’s drug may soon be on the market, but is it all its developers have made it out to be? Image credit: Phil Boorman/Getty Images.
More than 55 million peopleTrusted Source around the world have dementia — a group of diseases that affect the way a person’s brain works. Between 60% and 80% of all dementia cases are Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers further predict the number of people living with dementia will increase to almost 153 millionTrusted Source by 2050.
There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. However, there are a few Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs for Alzheimer’s disease aimed at either slowing disease progression or helping reduce some symptoms of the condition, with more potential treatments — such as lecanemab — currently in research and development.
What is lecanemab?
Lecanemab is an investigational drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease developed jointly by pharmaceutical companies Eisai and Biogen.
Lecanemab is a type of drug called a monoclonal antibodyTrusted Source. The human body naturally produces antibodies to defend itself from infection.
Scientists create a monoclonal antibody in a laboratory setting to attack a specific foreign material in the body, known as an antigenTrusted Source. When introduced into a person’s body, the monoclonal antibody stimulates the immune system to destroy the targeted antigen.
Doctors have recently used monoclonal antibodies to treat COVID-19 and certain cancersTrusted Source.
Lecanemab is directed against amyloid proteinTrusted Source, Dr. Christopher H. van Dyck, professor of psychiatry, neurology, and neuroscience, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit, director of the Yale Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and director of the Division of Aging and Geriatric Psychiatry and Yale School of Medicine, explained for Medical News Today.
Dr. van Dyck is also the lead author of a recently published study in the New England Journal of Medicine reporting on Eisai’s Phase 3 confirmatory Clarity AD clinical trial of lecanemab.
“The hope is for it to interfere with Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis and to slow the clinical progression of the disease,” he told MNT.
What is amyloid protein buildup?
Amyloid protein buildup in the brainTrusted Source is associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
According to Dr. Emer MacSweeney, CEO and medical director at Re:Cognition Health, and principal investigator for the Phase 3 confirmatory Clarity AD clinical trial of lecanemab, beta-amyloid protein that builds up in the brain in people with Alzheimer’s disease is ultimately toxic to certain brain cells, most experts seem to agree.
“Gradual destruction of these brain cells results in the development of the cognitive and other symptoms, which typically develop and progress, relentlessly, in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, leading to severe dementia,” she explained.
Dr. Karen D. Sullivan, a board-certified neuropsychologist and owner of I CARE FOR YOUR BRAIN in Pinehurst, North Carolina, stated that what is exciting about this class of medications is they are the first disease-modifying drugs we have ever had for Alzheimer’s disease.
“What this means is that these medications actually remove amyloid beta deposits from the brain. “Everything we’ve had to date has only been able to offer mild symptom reduction and has done nothing to impact the severity or course of the disease.”
“There have been a few other medications within the category of monoclonal antibodies that have gotten provisional FDA approval, but have had disappointing showings in the end,” she continued.
“In a direct comparison with the anti-amyloid antibodies aducanumabTrusted Source and gantenerumabTrusted Source, lecanemab is reported to most robustly remove the amyloid plaques because it intervenes earlier in the pathological process that contributes to Alzheimer’s disease and with less side effects. The hope is that by clearing amyloid plaque from the brain we can restore some degree of function and prevent, or at least significantly slow down, decline,” Dr. Sullivan added.
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