New Drug Approved for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment 

New Drug Approved for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment. Credit | Eli Lilly
New Drug Approved for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment. Credit | Eli Lilly

United States: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration( FDA) has just approved a new medicine called Kisunla to help people with early Alzheimer’s. This new drug which is made by a company called Eli Lilly, can really help to slower the effects of Alzheimer’s the complaint a little bit and can also help in curing Alzheimer by a good rate. 

A New Option for Alzheimer’s Cases 

It’s only the alternate medicine that has been shown to delay memory loss in people with early Alzheimer’s. Last year, another similar drug from Japan was also approved. This new drug gives people a new option to help manage Alzheimer’s and stay healthier for a longer time. 

The delay seen with the both the drugs amounts to a matter of months and almost about seven months in the case of Lilly’s drug though the patients and their families will have to weigh that benefit against the downsides including the regular IV infusions and potentially dangerous side effects like brain swelling. 

New Drug Approved for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment. Credit | Eli Lilly
New Drug Approved for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment. Credit | Eli Lilly

A Big Step for Alzheimer’s Treatment 

Physicians who treat Alzheimer’s say the approval is an essential step after decades of failed experimental treatments. 

“I’m thrilled to have different options to help my patients,” said Dr. Suzanne Schindler, a neurologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “It’s been difficult as a dementia specialist — I diagnose my patients with Alzheimer’s and then every year I see them get worse and they progress until they die.” 

How Kisunla Works 

Both Kisunla and the Japanese medication Leqembi are intravenous (IV) antibodies produced in a lab that target the accumulation of sticky amyloid plaque in the brain, one of the factors contributing to Alzheimer’s disease. It’s still unclear which people should receive the medications and for how long. 

Following a public conference last month where an external group of FDA advisors unanimously voted in support of the new drug’s benefits, the approval of the medication was anticipated. That approval was given in spite of multiple inquiries from FDA reviewers concerning Lilly’s drug study, which included letting patients stop taking the medication once their plaque levels were deficient. 

What’s Next for Patients? 

More than six million Americans have Alzheimer’s. Only those with early or mild disease will be eligible for the new drug, and an even smaller subset is likely to undergo the multi-step process needed to get a prescription. 

In the very beginning, the doctors need to confirm that the patients with dementia have the brain plaque targeted by the new drugs, and then they need to find a drug infusion center where the patients can receive therapy.