'Promising' new drug to treat Alzheimer's in pipeline of approval in Canada

A breakthrough drug approved in the U.S. to treat Alzheimer's could soon be available in Canada.

Health Canada started the approval process for drug lecanemab in May. The drug, also known by the brand name Leqembi, is for the treatment of Alzheimer's itself – not just the symptoms. Currently, there is no way to prevent or cure the disease.

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The drug was approved in the U.S. in early January, and since has shown positive outcomes, Cathy Barrick, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, told CTV's Your Morning on Friday.

"The results actually have been quite promising, and we're very encouraged by it," she said. "It actually targets the disease process itself, so when administered early on in the disease process, it can actually slow cognitive decline."

According to the Alzheimer's Association of Canada, about 747,000 Canadians are living with the disease or another type of dementia. In the coming decades, Health Canada expects this to increase.

The drug could be helpful for Canadians who are diagnosed early on with Alzheimer's.

According to Barrick, in order for the drug to help, patients would need to be diagnosed before symptoms appear, meaning to take full advantage of the drug, early cognitive monitoring needs to become routine in Canada's health-care system.

"Often what happens now is people are diagnosed when a problem appears," she said. "So symptoms are there, people are having trouble with their memory, decision making, things like that."

By the time it's diagnosed in those cases, it's too late for lecanemab, she said.

"They will have missed a window."

Health Canada's drug approval process could take several years, Barrick said.

"They want to ensure that the benefits outweigh any of the negatives, (and) of course all pharmaceuticals do have side effects," she said.

Barrick said what's most "exciting" about lecanemab is that there are currently no treatment options for Canadians with Alzheimer's, so it would be the first approved in Canada.

"It is one example of drugs that are in the pipeline," she said. "There's a lot of activity and we know that the people that we support are watching these developments with bated breath, really hoping that there's something that will help."

 

To watch the full interview, click the video at the top of this article.