Opinion: We finally have new Alzheimer’s drugs. How do we decide who gets them?
Many people with Alzheimer’s diagnoses may not actually have Alzheimer’s because of a lack of access to testing.
The recent FDA approval of Leqembi, the latest anti-amyloid drug, is undoubtedly a breakthrough for the field, providing a new way to slow the advancement of mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. As a practicing geriatrician who has treated Alzheimer’s patients for more than 40 years and the co-founder and chief science officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, I have never been more optimistic about our potential to transform how we treat and diagnose patients.
Hundreds of thousands of patients are expected to be prescribed Leqembi in the coming years, according to the drugmakers Eisai and Biogen. However, for Leqembi and other anti-amyloid therapies to become the standard of care, we need to accelerate the development, awareness, and implementation of novel diagnostics and biomarkers. As a field, it is our obligation to ensure every patient given a drug qualifies for it, and that requires accessible and affordable diagnostics. To optimize care efficiency and improve the patient experience, it is vital that we reconsider our approach to developing Alzheimer’s diagnostics and treatments.
What's Your Reaction?
