A new anti-Alzheimer drug, the first in over 20 years, has been rejected by the European Medicines Agency.
And now the disappointment is great among those affected by the deadly disease.
– It’s terrible – absolutely unbelievable. It has been my hope since I got my illness to have several good years before I die. I don’t know how they think, says Susanne Åsander, who lives with the disease.
Alzheimer’s has followed Susanne Åsander throughout her life. Her mother suffered from the disease. Her father too. Also grandmother and grandmother. Six years ago, she started feeling sick with what she thought was burnout, but it wasn’t.
– I thought I had hit the wall, that I was stressed. But to release the stress, I requested an examination. Then I was completely convinced that I wouldn’t get the news that I had Alzheimer’s, but I did anyway.
Around 100,000 Swedes are diagnosed with the fatal disease Alzheimer’s. Around 8-10 percent could be helped by the braking medication that has now been stopped. The EU’s Medicines Authority justifies the decision by saying that the benefits of the medicine do not outweigh possible disadvantages and the risk of side effects such as swelling and bleeding in the brain.
Approved in several countries
The medicine has already been approved in several countries, including the United States and Japan. A review of the European Medicines Agency’s decision has been requested, but even if it turns out to be positive for those waiting to receive the medicine, it will take time.
– It is not a curative medicine, but it slows down and that is incredibly positive. Today there is no cure, nothing at all. This is the first brake drug in over 20 years. I think it is strange that it is stopped in the EU when it has been approved in so many other countries, says Liselotte Jansson, secretary general of the Alzheimer’s Foundation.
She reacts to the justification from the European Medicines Agency, EMA, that the advantages of the medicine do not outweigh the disadvantages.
– If you have a fatal disease where you know it only goes downhill, I think most people grasp at the straw that exists, says Jansson.
“Has a death sentence”
Susanne Åsander has been part of a drug study since 2.5 years ago and has been given access to the medicine thanks to it. But not everyone has the same opportunity.
– I am completely convinced that I would not have been this well if I had not received the medicine, and I actually also believe that it will give me a few more years. And a few years is a long time when you know you have a death sentence, says Susanne.
She sympathizes with all those who had high hopes of starting treatment with the medicine.
– I have so many friends who have been waiting for this to happen, you completely kill hope for them.
Background: New drug against Alzheimer’s
Lekanemab has been approved in the US, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Israel.
But the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) believes that the observed effect of slowing cognitive decline does not outweigh the risk of serious side effects associated with the medication.
Lecanemab, which is marketed under the brand name Leqembi, has been developed by the American pharmaceutical company Biogen and Japan’s Eisai.
The drug is based on a discovery by Swedish researcher Lars Lannfeldt, professor at Uppsala University. The medicine has been developed, among other things, by the Swedish company Bioarctic, which Lars Lannfeldt co-founded. Bioarctic receives a royalty on global sales of lecanemab.
Sources: Today’s medicine and others.