Eli Lilly is gearing up to launch its Alzheimer’s drug for use in early-stage patients after receiving US approval on Tuesday, offering the medicine at a steep premium to a competitor as it claims it is more efficient. The drug — to be sold under the brand name Kisunla — will enter the US market a year after the first fully approved medicine to treat the neurodegenerative disease, developed jointly by pharmaceutical groups Biogen and Eisai, was launched.
Nearly half of patients on the trial cleared amyloid after a year, allowing them to come off the treatment . Some analysts have become bearish about the success of Kisunla, warning doctors may be less likely to prescribe the medicine because of a higher incidence of rare side effects, including brain swelling, compared with Leqembi, and that the drug could be eclipsed by a more convenient, subcutaneous version of Leqembi expected to launch next year.