A newly approved Alzheimer’s drug is set to be administered for the first time in Taiwan on Monday, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City announced yesterday.
Kisunla, the brand name of the monoclonal antibody donanemab, developed by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co, would be given in two doses to an 83-year-old woman, the hospital said.
Kisunla and Leqembi, the brand name of lecanemab, are a new class of Alzheimer’s treatments that target the underlying causes of the disease, rather than just alleviating its symptoms, the hospital said.
Photo: CNA
Both drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this year.
Leqembi received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in July 2023, while Kisunla was approved in July last year.
At the time of the drugs’ approval, Hu Chaur-jong (胡朝榮), dean of Taipei Medical University’s College of Medicine and consulting neurologist at Shuang Ho Hospital, said that many scientists believe Alzheimer’s disease is partly caused by the abnormal buildup of amyloid beta protein in the brain.
Kisunla and Leqembi help people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s by reducing amyloid plaques in the brain.
Earlier this month, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital dementia center director Yan Sui-hing (甄瑞興) said that treatment with the drugs needs to continue for 12 to 18 months before the amyloid accumulation is significantly reduced.
While the drugs are a breakthrough, they are not a cure. Amyloid levels must be regularly monitored and treatment resumed if levels rise beyond a certain threshold, Yan said.
Given their recent introduction, Yan also cautioned that the drugs’ long-term effectiveness remains uncertain and side effects still require further evaluation.
About 350,000 people have dementia in Taiwan, 60 to 70 percent of whom are believed to have Alzheimer’s. Of those, fewer than 100,000 people are considered eligible for treatment with the new drugs, Yan said.
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