FDA Approves Second Alzheimer's Treatment Drug

The world of Treatment Drugs for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer’s Disease continues to expand!

Recently the FDA approved the Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s Treatment Drug – Donanemab- which will be marketed and sold under the brand name Kisunla.

This is the second Alzheimer’s Treatment Drug to be approved, following Leqembi, which was approved in 2023.

This is a significant development for patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Alzheimer’s Disease, their families, and their treating physicians, because it expands their treatment choices.

This is also significant news for New England PET because Medicare is expected to approve reimbursement of Kisunla, and, like Leqembi, CMS is expected to require that before any physician starts treating a patient with Kisunla, the patient must have a PET Scan which shows that they are beta amyloid positive.

Importantly, the Alzheimer’s Association has estimated that 6.7 million people in the U.S. ages sixty-five and older were living with Alzheimer’s Disease last year and has projected that number to more than double to 13.8 million by 2060.

New England PET is fully prepared with its equipment and its staff, to provide all the PET Scans which are required prior to a physician beginning to treat a patient with either Kisunla or Leqembi.