Eisai Co., Ltd (TYO: 4523), a Japanese pharmaceutical company, in partnership with Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB), has announced the official market launch of Leqembi (lecanemab), a therapy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in China. This follows the drug’s official market approval in China in January this year.
Leqembi is a humanized anti-soluble aggregated amyloid-beta (Aβ) monoclonal antibody that binds to soluble Aβ and insoluble Aβ aggregates, which are a major component of Aβ plaques associated with AD. The therapy aims to reduce Aβ protofibrils and Aβ plaques in the brain and is administered intravenously every two weeks. It is indicated for the treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD and/or mild AD dementia. The Phase III Clarity AD study demonstrated that Leqembi treatment slowed the decline of measures related to cognition and function by 27% over 18 months compared to placebo in patients with early AD. China becomes the third market to approve the drug after the United States, which granted accelerated approval in January 2023 and then full approval in June 2023, and Japan, which approved the drug in September 2023.
Eisai estimates that approximately 17 million people in China suffer from MCI, a number that is expected to increase with the aging population. The initial launch in China is targeted at the private market and is being managed by Eisai, which is collaborating with a major Chinese medical insurance company to develop a healthcare insurance plan for AD, including partial coverage of Leqembi. While the annual treatment cost in the U.S. is USD 26,500, the pricing details for China have not been disclosed. Eisai is also working to enhance early AD diagnosis and treatment through a combination of online and offline services, in partnership with commercial health insurance companies, private health checkup firms, and nursing homes. The goal is to encourage high-risk individuals to seek diagnosis at specialized hospitals or to use “Yin Fa Tong,” an online health platform focused on dementia, developed in a joint venture with JD Health.- Flcube.com
