Lecanemab Monthly IV Maintenance Dosing: Research Highlights with R Scott Turner, PhD, MD

The US FDA has approved monthly IV maintenance dosing with lecanemab (Leqembi; Eisai), a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) against toxic ß-amyloid protofibrils in the brain, the underlying pathophysiology of Alzheimer dementia. Lecanemab is approved in the US for treatment of adults with Alzheimer disease who have mild cognitive impairment, or "early Alzheimer disease." In clinical trials the mAb slowed cognitive and functional decline in the range of 25% to 40%, depending on the specific outcome measure used, according to Scott Turner, PhD, MD, director of the memory disorders program at Georgetown University, in Washington DC.

For individuals who have completed the induction phase of biweekly lecanemab infusions, the maintenance regimen calls for a monthly IV dose to maintain a concentration of the drug that sustains clearance of highly toxic precursors to the ß-amyloid plaque that induction treatment has cleared from the brain.

Turner has long experience with research on lecanemab and other anti-amyloid antibodies that have changed understanding of the disease and offer hope for millions who have or will develop Alzheimer disease. In a recent interview with Patient Care©, Turner highlighted the research behind the original FDA approval and that supports the new maintenance indication.