For the first time, Health Canada has approved a new drug that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and it’s giving new hope that the disease can be tackled early.
On Monday, Health Canada announced approval for lecanemab, commercially known as “Leqembi.”
The treatment has already been approved in some other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Mexico and China. It is currently under regulatory review in 15 other countries and regions, including the European Union.
Lecanemab is meant for adults who have a clinical diagnosis of mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.
FYI, this is a drug that followed up the very controversial aducanumab and the risk/benefit margin is pretty thin.
So what’s the risk benefits ratio for this? It has bad side effects doesn’t really work?
It only slows the progression of the disease. Aducanumab did not do this in a statistically significant way. This drug does, but both have possible side effects. So, if you have no side effects it makes sense to take it, but with side effects it can be unclear whether it will have a net positive impact on your quality of life.
It’s also not covered under provincial insurance programs. Source
Most new drugs aren’t covered instantly after they are approved for use.
Like most burocracies it always takes time for the provinces to update their formulary.
