New hope for Alzheimer’s patients

The approval by the US Food and Drug Administration last Thursday of the antibody treatment Leqembi, which significantly slows the progression of Alzheimer’s in its early stages, has given hope to millions of patients and their families. 

The drug is the fruit of the collaboration between American biotechnology company Biogen and Japan’s Eisai.

Leqembi is an antibody that targets the sticky toxic plaques of amyloid beta protein that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s, gradually destroying vital cells in their neurons and thus their memory and cognitive functions. In the majority of patients given the drug, the brain plaques cleared up completely and the progression of the disease slowed down on average in all patients.

Its approval and launch is a great success both for Biogen and for the Greek Stelios Papadopoulos, until recently chairman of its board of directors. The company and Papadopoulos focused on Alzheimer’s research, invested huge sums in research and clinical trials, and were not deterred by difficulties, setbacks or even failures.

In exclusive comments to Kathimerini, Papadopoulos, known in the industry as the “patriarch of biotechnology,” said that “all the data from the Stage 3 clinical trial show that Leqembi has much better results as well as fewer and milder side effects than our own Aducanumab and Eli Lilly’s Donanemab.”

“This is likely to be due to some extent to its mode of administration: via intravenous infusion every two weeks. It doesn’t cure Alzheimer’s, it doesn’t stop it, but it delays it, it puts a brake on the declining course, and that’s extremely important,” stressed Papadopoulos.

“It is indicated for people in the early phase of the disease with amyloid in the brain. In the 18 months of taking it, the amyloid disappeared in almost all patients. At the symptom level, there was a 27% slowdown in the progression of Alzheimer’s,” said Papadopoulos. 

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