Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi has full FDA approval now and that means Medicare will pay for it

abcnews.go.com:

U.S. officials have granted full approval to a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug for patients with early stages of the disease

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials granted full approval to a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug on Thursday, clearing the way for Medicare and other insurance plans to begin covering the treatment for people with the brain-robbing disease.

The Food and Drug Administration endorsed the IV drug, Leqembi, for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer's disease. It’s the first medicine that’s been convincingly shown to modestly slow the cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer's.

Japanese drugmaker Eisai received conditional approval from the FDA in January based on early results suggesting Leqembi worked by clearing a sticky brain plaque linked to the disease.

The FDA confirmed those results by reviewing data from a larger, 1,800-patient study in which the drug slowed memory and thinking decline by about five months in those who got the treatment, compared to those who got a dummy drug.

“This confirmatory study verified that it is a safe and effective treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease," said FDA's neurology drug director, Dr. Teresa Buracchio, in a statement.

The drug's prescribing information will carry the most serious type of warning, indicating that Leqembi can cause brain swelling and bleeding, side effects that can be dangerous in rare cases. The label notes that those problems are seen with other plaque-targeting Alzheimer's drugs.

The process of converting a drug to full FDA approval usually attracts little attention. But Alzheimer’s patients and advocates have been lobbying the federal government for months after Medicare officials announced last year they