The health ministry is expected to soon approve a new Alzheimer’s drug after a ministry panel backed the move Thursday, which would make donanemab the second drug approved in Japan to treat the neurodegenerative disease.
Donanemab, developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, is designed to remove amyloid beta, an abnormal protein that accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, and slow the progression of the disease. It is targeted at patients with early onset Alzheimer’s.
In early experimental trials, the drug was successful in slowing the progress of cognitive decline by 35% compared with those who took a placebo. It was approved for production and sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July.