Rising Leqembi Prescriptions Are Straining Clinic Capacity | Hacker News Reader

Rising Leqembi Prescriptions Are Straining Clinic Capacity

alzforum.org

37 pointsbeefman15 comments

Last I heard Leqembi has been shown to reduce the amyloid plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's, but has not been shown to have an actual impact on disease progression. Is that still the case?

Probably nobody knows the answer, but we will know in a year or two.

Nobody will be too surprised if the medicine will be retracted, as it was a very controversial approval process.

It has a statistically significant effect on cognitive test scores, although many opine that the effect is not clinically meaningful.

So maybe like a 85% decline instead of 90%

more like an extra month or two of lucidity

How much is an extra month or two of lucidity worth to someone?

Much more when it is your last month or two of lucidity.

The real question (at least in the US) is how much is it worth to society because the vast majority of the cost will be charged to Medicare.

If it can delay people going to specialized memory care units, it will be a net savings for overall health spend.

Again, that depends on how long it delays that outcome.

If it shortens time spent in memory care (it's about half the monthly cost).

List price of the medication is currently $26.5k annually: not obvious there will be net $ savings.

No, that was Aduhelm. Leqembi slows decline by 29%, more so in tau-negative subpopulations. https://investors.biogen.com/news-releases/news-release-deta...

Awesome, thanks for the correction!

I suspect more ultrasound BBB permeability with monoclonal antibodies will gradually become the standard treatment, hopefully before people show symptoms by routine blood tests now that one is available. The disease process needs to be caught and treated sooner.

Yesterday, I learned there is an inverse correlation between Alzheimer's and rates of cancer. Perhaps a genetic or epigenetic disease processes leads to an exclusive condition precluding other kinds of degeneration.

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