The Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to cover a new biologic treatment for some veteran patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to an announcement Monday from the manufacturer.
The VA will cover Leqembi, a monoclonal antibody therapy made by pharmaceutical companies Eisai and Biogen, for veterans in the disease's early stages, making the department the first and largest health program in the country to endorse the treatment.
The Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for Leqembi, also known as lecanemab, in January after research showed that the medication, administered intravenously every two weeks, slowed physical and mental decline in some patients with early Alzheimer's by as much as 27%.
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While research is ongoing on the treatment's effectiveness, the medication is among the first to demonstrate that it reduces beta amyloid — the toxic protein that contributes to the development of Alzheimer's — in the brain.
“This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer's, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease,” said Dr. Billy Dunn, director of the Office of Neuroscience in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, during the accelerated approval announcement.
The VA treats roughly 168,000 veterans with Alzheimer's, a…
