New Alzheimer’s drug too costly, benefits too small, UK's health body says. 'Just not enough...'

The drug for Alzheimer’s disease given the green light by safety regulators in the United Kingdom on Thursday will not be funded by the NHS. That means it won't be available for purchase on NHS and patients will need to buy it privately. Eisai and Biogen's new Leqembi drug,also known aslecanemab, can be used by patients in the early stages of the disease after it was given the licence for use by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Trials of the drug showed that it slowed cognitive decline by 27 per cent in Alzheimer’s patients. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has rejected the drug in its draft guidance saying the benefits of lecanemab were too small to justify its costs.

The estimated cost of the treatment is approximately £21,000 ($27,527). When IV drip administration and monitoring side effects are taken into account, the final costs climb higher.

Hilary Evans-Newton, the chief executive at Alzheimer’s Research UK, told the Telegraph, "It’s clear our health system isn’t ready to embrace this new wave of Alzheimer’s drugs."

"It means that, as things stand, people in the early stages of the disease will be denied access to lecanemab through the NHS, and it will only be available to those who can pay privately. This is deeply disappointing.”

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Hailing the drug, Hilary said, "It’s a remarkable achievement that science is now delivering licensed treatments that can slow down the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s, rather than just alleviating its symptoms."

Reportedly, around 70,000 adults in England would have been eligible to be treated using lecanemab.

The decision to not make the drug available on NHS is likely to trigger a row. Only people with a lot of money would be able to afford the drug privately.

Alzheimer’s charities have slammed Nice for the decision and failing to consider the burden on caregivers the drug would reduce.

Nice justifies its decision

Nice said that its independent committee found lecanemab to be the first licensed drug in the UK that can slow down the progression of the disease. However, it does not prove to be good value for taxpayers' money since treatment costs are high, it said. Besides, it provides relatively small benefits to patients.

Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said, “For Nice to be able to approve a medicine for use in the NHS it must not only provide benefits to patients, but it must also represent a good use of NHS resources and taxpayers’ money.

“Lecanemab provides on average four to six months slowing in the rate of progression from mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, but this is just not enough benefit to justify the additional cost to the NHS.”

The draft guidance is set to go for consultation until Sep 20, before a final decision is taken.