A new drug for Alzheimer’s disease now also available in Finland, reduces plaque in the brain

Alzheimer’s for the treatment of the disease, a new medicine is now available in Finland as well, although for now only at private clinics. A new drug the movie is intended for people with early Alzheimer’s disease.

“The drug removes amyloid really well, that’s how it works,” says the assistant professor Hanna-Maria Roitto from the University of Tampere.

According to Roito, it is still difficult to say what the practical significance of lekanemab is on a large scale. It does not cure Alzheimer’s disease, but it slowed down the deterioration of the subjects’ performance and memory by 27 percent in a year and a half.

The Medicines Agency Fimea will evaluate the therapeutic and financial value of the medicine by the end of the year. Then Terveydenhuolto’s service selection council evaluates whether the drug will be available for public healthcare.

Kanemabi is one of the first drugs that has found to slow down in clinical trials Alzheimer’s disease progression.

The slowdown was observed in trials with lekenamab-treated and placebo-treated control groups.

The figure of 27 percent is calculated from assessments where the severity of the patient’s Alzheimer’s disease was assessed on a scale of 0-18. The calculated potency of the drug was not unequivocally based on blood samples or brain scans.

Kanemabi thus removing beta-amyloid deposits from the brain. It accumulates as harmful plaques between nerve cells.

According to assistant professor Roito, the spinal fluid sample tells about the accumulation of amyloid in the brain. Another method would be positron emission tomography (PET), which however is not generally available. It’s about amyloid PET imaging.

The amount of beta-amyloid in the brain tissue does not show up in brain computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. They can tell about the structural changes and circulatory changes caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

Medicine recommended only for patients with early stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Another limitation is that patients cannot have two specific forms of the APOE 4 gene. If so, the drug may be more likely to cause serious side effects such as brain swelling and bleeding.

It’s about the APOE 4/4 mutation, which only about a couple of percent of Finns have.

“A more general restriction of use applies to those receiving anticoagulant treatment, for example for atrial fibrillation,” says Roitto. The limitation is mentioned In medicine info.

Atrial fibrillation is something like this 20 percent of people over 75 years oldwho also have Alzheimer’s disease more than younger people.

“It has been studied around the world that perhaps only 5-10 percent of all patients in memory clinics could use lekanemab, 20 percent of those with mild Alzheimer’s disease, so there may be few users,” says Roitto.

Kanemabin usage costs per year more than 24,000 euros based on US price. It must be used constantly. In Britain it was rated too expensive for public healthcare.

“If the medicine is expensive, you have to get a corresponding benefit from it. The assessment always depends on how the costs are compared. Does the medicine reduce the need for round-the-clock treatment? That too costs at least 20,000–40,000 euros per year,” says Roitto.

The drug must be administered directly into a vein, unlike other Alzheimer’s drugs that have been used for twenty years. It must therefore be given in an outpatient clinic or hospital where infusion is possible.

In the United States, a version that is injected under the skin has been developed for maintenance treatment.

In addition to the European Medicines Agency, Lekanemab has been approved by the relevant authorities in the United States, Japan, China, Great Britain and eight other countries.

Donanemab, which the European Commission just gave a marketing authorization for, works in the same way. It is not yet in use in Finland.