A new Alzheimer's drug appears to slow decline, but how different is it from Leqembi?

Last month, the FDA approved Donanemab, which could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The drug is similar to another Alzheimer’s drug that received full FDA approval last year, Leqembi.

Both drugs target and remove amyloid in the brain and both require intravenous infusions. So how do they differ?

Dr. Jeremy Pruzin is a cognitive behavioral neurologist at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute.

"I think the biggest practical difference is that for Donanemab, the newer medication, in that clinical trial, once those amyloid plaques were completely cleared on a PET scan, the medication was stopped," Pruzin said.

Eisai

Unlike the older drug Leqembi, which does not have a stop-point.

"And it's a bit of unknown what to do once those plaques are cleared," Pruzin said. "Is there a maintenance dose that should be given or can you stop?"

Pruzin says even though this new drug was approved, no one at Banner is being treated with it — yet.

"There’s a whole apparatus that needs to get mobilized, insurance. Given the side effects mentioned, we need a safety monitoring system to diagnose, get patients ready, get insurance covered, and make sure that all the appropriate MRIs and other things happen. And that takes a long time," Pruzin said.

Side effects can include possible swelling or bleeding of the brain.