Drug that slows Alzheimer’s is safe and effective, real-world data shows

• The medication lecanemab was approved by the U.S. FDA to treat Alzheimer’s disease in 2023.
• Like all medications, lecanemab comes with the potential for side effects, including amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), such as the presence of swelling or bleeding in the brain.
• The Clarity AD phase 3 clinical trial, published in 2022, reported very low percentages of participants experiencing ARIA.
• A new study reconfirms the Clarity AD findings by reporting that significant adverse events, such as ARIA, were rare and manageable in real-world use of lecanemab for people within the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

While there is currently no cure for a type of dementia called Alzheimer’s disease, over the last few years, new medications have been introduced to help manage disease symptoms and slow its progression.

One such medication is lecanemab, distributed under the brand name Leqembi, which was approvedTrusted Source by the U.S. FDA in 2023.

Like all medications, lecanemab has the potential for side effects, including headaches, dizziness, muscle aches, and blurred vision, as well as a very serious side effect known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), such as the presence of swelling or bleeding in the brain.

In November 2022, scientists published the results of the Clarity AD phase 3 clinical trial aimed at determining the safety and efficacy of lecanemab in people with early Alzheimer’s disease. In that study, researchers found 0.8% of participants experienced ARIA-E (edema/effusion) and 0.7% showed signs of ARIA-H (hemorrhage/hemosiderin deposition).

Now, a new study recently published in JAMA NeurologyTrusted Source reconfirms the Clarity AD findings by reporting that significant adverse events — such as ARIA — were rare and manageable in “real-world” use of lecanemab for people with very mild or mild Alzheimer’s disease.

What is lecanemab? 

For this study, researchers recruited 234 people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, with an average age of about 74, who received lecanemab at the outpatient specialty memory clinic, Washington University Memory Diagnostic Center.

“Lecanemab is an antibody, a kind of protein normally made in your body by your immune system,” Barbara Joy Snider, MD, PhD, a professor of neurology at WashU Medicine and affiliated with the Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and co-senior author of this study, explained to Medical News Today. “Antibodies like lecanemab are designed to have specific targets and are manufactured, then administered to patients. Antibodies are used for many different conditions.”