How we've been reporting on
what's been called maybe
the biggest breakthrough in Alzheimer's
disease treatment in 30 years.
The FDA approved a new
medication last week for people in
the early stages of the disease.
The question is what does it mean for you
if you're suffering or a family member?
Happy to have Kristen Cusano,
the director of communications
with the Alzheimer's Association
of Connecticut joining us now.
It's good to see you in person
for the first time in a while,
many years. Thanks for having me.
Appreciate it and glad to
have. Here because we can't
talk about this enough, right?
Last time I was talking about
it hadn't been approved is
called the Kanab at the time.
But please give people a quick
primer on what this drug is
and what it can, can't do. We
are very excited.
The FDA approved now it's called
Likembe Lacan Amab to Lakemba.
It was approved on Friday.
And this is a drug that we hope
will give people more time.
This is a drug that attacks that
amyloid protein, which is one of the
hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease,
which can lead to the cognitive decline.
And the study over 18 months showed
a 27% reduction in cognitive decline.
So very exciting.
That means more time for families
to live independently, see,
see their family members, you know,
take part in quality of life,
activities, hobbies, etcetera.
Yeah, I remember speaking to doctor
Christopher Van **** who runs the Alzheimer's
Center at Yale in real world terms,
he said if you took somebody
who was not on the drug,
the decline, they would see it.
But the 18 month mark, you can push
that out to maybe about 27 months.
That's time like.
That's a lot of time.
Now the question is how can
people get their hands on it?
I imagine it's probably
still in short supply.
So here's the deal kind of convoluted.
But back when Agile helm,
the very first drug was approved and 21 OK,
the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare
said we're not going to cover
any of these drugs in this class
unless you're in a clinical trial.
So here we are, 2023,
another drug comes along,
still not covered.
It's too expensive for families.
We as an advocacy organization,
the Alzheimer's.
Association is asking CMS to
change their mind so that we
want people who want this drug,
who are qualified for this drug to
be able to get this drug and have
access so they can get that more time
right. And if I remember correctly,
because the reason why they're so
excited about this drug is because
they went through every hoop.
This was double blinded.
This was placebo-controlled,
which means there weren't a lot of people,
I think only about 800 in this study.
You tell me right now only about
800 people can get reimbursed
for this people who are in
the clinical trial right now.
So that's why we really are asking.
Seems to change their mind because we
want everyone who qualifies for this
drug to be able to have that time.
I think it's very,
very important to families.
And this is for people in the
early stages of the disease.
So mild Alzheimer's or mild
cognitive impairment MCI,
which is people who have some more
memory concerns but not enough to really
affect all of their daily activities.
So this is for folks in the
it's an infusion twice a month.
Yeah.
So you have to talk to your
doctor about this kind of thing.
But the bottom line is we
really need CMS to change their
mind. So what can people
do to put pressure on CMS?
I would say go to our website,
alz.org/research,
kind of learn about what we're doing.
You can always call our 800 number,
which we've talked about a number of times.
With any question about Alzheimer's
or dementia or anything, it's
800-272-3900 and ask what you can do.
And we'd really like people to be
able to share their voices and make
sure that CMS knows this should be
accessible for everyone who wants it.
Also curious.
And the little time we have left,
you mentioned those amyloid plaques that
are associated with Alzheimer's disease.
This can really almost wipe them out.
When a pet scan overtime still a
lot of questions though about the
mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease.
So how much excitement does this provide
that we're gonna learn more about
how the disease works in progresses.
I think that you know it takes so many
years to come get to go drug right.
So this has been in you know looking
at this for years and years and years.
The interesting thing about this drug it's
in another trial as a prevention drug.
So we're really looking at this and
we're also as you know looking at
prevention lifestyle interventions
all of those things that you can
start now to reduce your risk later.
Yeah. So not only is it good news Now,
this could be the start of even better
news going forward, I guess, is what we're
getting at. Kristen, thank you so
much for taking the time to join us.
And thank you for having me.
A pleasure. And it is finally good
news to have some good news to
share in an area that's really,
really been starved for it.
So thank you so much for the time. Alright.