This new drug is the first ever approved to fight Alzheimer's disease

The U.S. The Food and Drug Administration recently gave its final approval for the first drug ever to prove it can slow Alzheimer’s disease. But what is this drug and what can it do?

Leqembi—known generically as lecanemab—was developed by drugmakers Eisai and Biogen with the purpose of targeting a specific protein in the brain called beta-amyloid according to a report from NBC News.  

Beta-amyloid has long been thought to play a significant role in Alzheimer's disease and researchers believe the protein is one of the major underlying causes of the condition.

According to The Telegraph, Leqembi is administered once every two weeks via an intravenous infusion.  

Clinical trials of Leqembi showed the drug could slow down the progress of Alzheimer's disease in patients with mild cognitive impairment by 27% over an 18-month period.

"While patients still do decline on the drug, the decline is slowed,” said Donna Wilnock, The Assistant Dean of Biomedicine at the University of Kentucky NBC News reported. 

Wilnock explained that Leqembi would give people with Alzheimer's disease more time to live independently while enjoying their friendships, hobbies, and better quality of life. 

"Time will tell how much, but the clinical trial did show significant benefit on activities of daily living measures,” Wilnock added. But the drug does have some major drawbacks. 

Leqembi has only been approved for people suffering from early forms of Alzheimer's disease or those with mild cognitive development problems or dementia, CNN reported. 

The group that will benefit from the new drug only represents about a sixth of the more than 6 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer's according to Dr. Lawrence Honig.

Dr. Honig is a Professor of Neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and he told CNN we still lack the knowledge to know if Leqembi could help advanced cases. 

“It’s not that we know it’s not good for people with moderate or severe disease; it’s just that we don’t know,” said Honig, though he’s quite optimistic about the drug’s future. 

“The treatments we have right now are just the beginning of a new era,” the doctor told CNN. But Leqembi comes with some safety concerns that have worried other doctors. 

Dr. Alberto Espay is a Neurologist at the University of Cincinnati and launched a petition to stop the Food and Drug Administration from approving Leqembi for use on patients. 

NBC News reported Dr. Espay noted “the odds for brain swelling and hemorrhage are far higher than any actual improvement,” and NBC pointed out 12.6% of patients taking Leqembiin in the trial developed brain swelling versus 1.7% in the placebo group. 

Despite the risks, Leqembi was approved and became the second in a category of new drugs designed to help to target the disease rather than the symptoms according to a new release from the Food and Drug Administration on the approval of the drug. 

“Alzheimer’s disease immeasurably incapacitates the lives of those who suffer from it and has devastating effects on their loved ones,” said Dr. Billy Dunn, director of the Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. 

“This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease,” Dunn added in a statement included in the FDAs news release.