Eisai files for approval of Alzheimer's drug in Japan

[January 16, 2023]  (Reuters) - Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co Ltd said on Monday it had submitted a marketing authorisation application in Japan for its Alzheimer's drug lecanemab, which was recently granted accelerated approval in the United States.

The drug, developed in partnership with Biogen Inc , is an antibody that has been shown to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta from the brains of those in the early stages of the mind-wasting disease.

The company's application is based on results from a late-stage study in which the drug was shown to reduce the rate of cognitive decline in patients with early Alzheimer's by 27%, compared with a placebo.

Nearly all previous experimental drugs using the same approach have failed.

The logo of Eisai Co Ltd is displayed at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

Earlier this month, Eisai also applied for full approval of the drug with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for patients in the earliest stages of the neurodegenerative disease.

(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue and Gerry Doyle)

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