Alzheimer Society of Ontario warns province ill-prepared for arrival of disease-modifying therapies

The Alzheimer Society of Ontario says it welcomes Thursday’s announcement by U.S. officials to grant full approval of the IV drug Leqembi, a disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s but it’s also sounding the alarm that the province is ill-prepared for the arrival of these therapies.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration endorsed Leqembi for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer’s disease. Japanese drugmaker Eisai received conditional approval 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.

“Helplessness is steadily giving way to hope,” Cathy Barrick, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, said in a statement on Thursday.

“While we have always been able to lower our risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease through lifestyle choices, the emergence of safe, effective treatments gives health care providers and families additional options to live well with Alzheimer’s disease and for the first time ever, to slow the progression of the disease itself.”

However, Barrick points out that treatment options such as Leqembi must be administered early in the progression of Alzheimer’s, which means early detection and diagnosis – a process the province falls short of at this time.

Research by the University of Southern California released in 2022 shows Ontario is ill-prepared for the imminent arrival of disease-modifying therapies. With the introduction of a treatment in the province, wait times to receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease would skyrocket to seven and a half years, which the ASO says is longer than many who seek a diagnosis will live – and far too long for treatments to be effective.

“We have had years of advance notice that treatment options for Alzheimer’s disease are coming to Ontario,” said Barrick, noting that one-in-three adults in Ontario has a close family member living with dementia.

“There is no excuse not to be ready: ready with infusion capacity, diagnostic infrastructure, primary care education.”

Leqembi was submitted to Health Canada for review in May 2023. There are currently no treatments for Alzheimer’s disease itself approved for use in Canada.