- BioArctic’s partner Eisai announced that CDA-AMC has issued a final recommendation supporting public reimbursement of Leqembi (lecanemab) for eligible patients with MCI or mild dementia due to early Alzheimer’s disease.
- The recommendation follows CDA-AMC’s reconsideration and marks a step toward broader access. Next, negotiations through the pCPA will be followed by reimbursement decisions from provincial and territorial drug plans.
- More than 770,000 Canadians were estimated to be living with dementia in 2025, with the number projected to reach 1.7 million by 2050, highlighting the growing need for treatments targeting early Alzheimer’s disease.
- Leqembi, developed through a BioArctic-Eisai alliance, is a humanized IgG1 antibody targeting aggregated soluble and insoluble amyloid-beta. It is approved in 53 countries and under regulatory review in six.
Takeaways:
The positive reimbursement recommendation from Canada’s drug agency moves Leqembi closer to public funding for early Alzheimer’s disease, which can significantly expand the addressable patient pool beyond those who can afford out‑of‑pocket or private coverage. As the next step, price negotiations through the pan‑Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance and subsequent provincial/territorial decisions will determine how quickly and uniformly the drug is covered across the country, shaping uptake versus other emerging Alzheimer’s therapies. Given the large and growing number of Canadians with dementia, broad public reimbursement would strengthen Leqembi’s position in the early‑Alzheimer’s segment and support more consistent access through hospital and community infusion settings.
Source: PRnewswire
