Eisai Files for Approval of Alzheimer’s Drug in Japan

Reuters

10:39 JST, January 16, 2023

Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co Ltd 4523.T said on Monday it had submitted a marketing authorisation application in Japan for its Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab, which was recently granted accelerated approval in the United States.

The drug, developed in partnership with Biogen Inc BIIB.O, is an antibody that has been shown to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta from the brains of those in the early stages of the mind-wasting disease.

The company’s application is based on results from a late-stage study in which the drug was shown to reduce the rate of cognitive decline in patients with early Alzheimer’s by 27%, compared with a placebo.