Lecanemab is an anti-amyloid beta (Aβ) protofibril antibody for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Co-developed by Eisai and Biogen, the companies announced positive findings on the drug from the Clarity AD phase 3 trial on September 27, with the results suggesting lecanemab can slow cognitive and functional decline in a group of patients in the early stages of the disease.
According to the announcement, the therapy reduced patient clinical decline by 27% when compared to a placebo after 18 months of the infused treatment.
Michel Vounatsos, CEO of Biogen, said: “Importantly, the study shows that removal of aggregated amyloid beta in the brain is associated with a slowing of disease in patients at the early stage of the disease.”
Weighing in on that, Gene Kinney, CEO of Prothena, said he believes the results of the phase 3 study will have a positive impact on the future of R&D linked to AD and that the insights gleaned can contribute to first-generation and subsequent second-generation amyloid beta (Aβ) targeting therapies.
“Based on Eisai’s press release results, it is really an unambiguously positive outcome, and it speaks to what we have been seeing in the field, which is that as you lower amyloid plaque, as measured using amyloid positron emission tomography (PET), you are seeing an increasingly consistent relationship between that effect and positive clinical outcomes.
“And, here, we are seeing highly statistically significant, clinically meaningful effects, and importantly, across multiple clinical domains, so not just the primary outcome measure on the CDR-SB measurement but across the key secondary outcomes as well.