Alzheimer’s drug rejected for NHS use ‘slows disease’ by eight years

Credit: ClarkandCompany

By Ella Pickover, PA

The Alzheimer’s drug Lecanemab, which has been rejected for NHS use, can slow disease progression by eight years, researchers claim.

The medication has been licensed for use in the UK, but will not be made available on the NHS after the spending watchdog deemed the benefits “too small” to justify the cost.

Real-world data was presented at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference in San Diego, which compared people given the treatment from an early stage of the disease with those who had not been treated.

Long-term treatment with lecanemab, which is also known as Leqembi and is made by Eisai, could delay disease progression from mild cognitive impairment to moderate Alzheimer’s disease by 8.3 years among patients with low levels of amyloid protein in the brain and who started treatment at an early stage, it was said.

Data was also shared about an injectable version of the drug, indicating that it could one day be made more accessible than the current route of being delivered through an IV drip.

Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “For decades, people with Alzheimer’s disease have been desperately waiting for treatments that slow disease progression.

“This new data on lecanemab’s real world use outside of clinical trials is promising, as it indicates treating people earlier could provide more benefit.

“The possibility that an injectable option has similar risks of side effects to the existing IV version of the drug could make treatment simpler and more accessible for people who can access it in the future.

He added: “Breakthroughs like this will only make a difference if people are diagnosed early and accurately. Around one million people are living with dementia in the UK and more than a third don’t have a diagnosis.

“While lecanemab is not currently available on the NHS, hope is on the horizon with over 130 Alzheimer’s disease drugs in clinical trials.

“The UK government must act now to improve dementia diagnosis and prepare the NHS for delivering these new treatments.”

David Thomas, head of policy and public affairs at Alzheimer’s Research UK, urged the government to establish dedicated pilots for these drugs in the NHS.

“This study further confirms the promise of new anti-amyloid medicines, which are currently only available privately to UK patients, as they have not been found to be cost-effective for NHS funding," he said. “People with dementia in the UK should not be missing out.

“This [having pilots] would widen the availability of new medicines for patients, collect more real-world data on their benefits and enable the health service to prepare for future treatments.”

Targeting cause of the disease

Another Alzheimer’s drug, donanemab, was also approved for UK use but rejected for NHS use.

Donanemab and lecanemab are targeted antibody drugs that slow down the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

They represent a huge step forward in research because they target a known cause of the disease, rather than just treating symptoms.

Both drugs bind to amyloid, a protein which builds up in the brains of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.

By binding to amyloid, the drugs are designed to help clear the build-up and slow down cognitive decline.

Publishing final draft guidance on the drugs in June, NICE said the treatments have been shown to delay progression from mild to moderate Alzheimer’s by four to six months.

But it said the medicines cannot be provided on the NHS because they are not good value for money and “only provide modest benefits at best”.

Last year, NHS England published a briefing paper suggesting the cost of bringing the drugs to the health service could be £500 million to £1 billion per year.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Society, one in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.

By 2040, about 1.4 million people in the UK could be living with the condition.

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