TORONTO– Health Canada has actually licensed a drug revealed to slow the development of Alzheimer’s illness.
Lecanemab is the very first medication authorized in Canada that targets the accumulation of amyloid plaque in the brain, which is thought to be a hidden reason for Alzheimer’s illness.
The drug is a lab-made antibody that binds to the amyloid proteins and assists reduce the effects of and clear them from the brain.
Lecanemab should be administered in the early phases of dementia when there is moderate cognitive disability.
Adam Morrison, a representative for the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, states clients and their households have actually been anxiously waiting for the approval of lecanemab– likewise understood by its brand Leqembi– in Canada.
Morrison stated Alzheimer societies are advising Canada’s Drug Agency and provincial federal governments to rapidly bring the drug to market and openly fund it so all qualified clients can manage to take it, noting it costs about US$ 26,000 a year in other nations.
Lecanemab is a treatment, not a treatment, that requires to be administered intravenously every 2 weeks, Morrison stated.
“What we speak with our customers is that ‘‘ this seems like a drug that can offer me more time. This can offer me more time with my household,’ which’s a truly, truly substantial piece that we’ve been finding out about a lot,” he stated.
Lecanemab is authorized in about 50 nations, a press release from maker Eisai Co., Ltd., stated on Monday.
It was authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2023.
Lecanemab was checked in a worldwide Phase 3 scientific trial, Eisai stated in the release, keeping in mind that it would continue to “send medical evaluation information caught from individuals in real-world scientific practice.”
Possible side-effects of lecanemab consist of brain swelling or bleeding, although most of the times they show up on MRI scans however do not trigger any signs, stated Dr. Andrew Frank, a cognitive neurologist and medical director of the Bruyère Memory Program in Ottawa.
“This is most likely due to the fact that the antibodies are responding with the amyloid and as the amyloid protein is being cleared, there might be swelling to do that which can result in swelling in the brain and/or bleeding in the brain,” stated Frank in an interview with The Canadian Press in 2015 while waiting for approval of lecanemab.
Frank, who has actually sought advice from for Eisai Canada, stated signs can consist of headache, lightheadedness or lightheadedness, however in unusual cases can likewise consist of major conditions such as seizures or stroke-like signs.
Less than one percent of medical trial individuals had “consistent or potentially irreversible side-effects or signs” once the medication was stopped, he stated.
“I support these medications being available to Canadians, so that they can decide on the risk-benefit balance themselves, with their households and with their doctors to choose on whether the advantage of slowing the illness exceeds the danger of those major side-effects,” Frank stated.
This report by The Canadian Press was very first released Oct. 27, 2025.
Canadian Press health protection gets assistance through a collaboration with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is entirely accountable for this material.
Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press
