BRIEF—Leqembi to be launched in Japan on December 20

Eisai and Biogen announced that their humanized antisoluble aggregated amyloid-beta (Aβ) monoclonal antibody Leqembi (lecanemab, 200mg, 500mg) intravenous infusion for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease will be launched in Japan on December 20.

This follows its scheduled inclusion in the price listing on the Japan National Health Insurance (NHI) Drug Price List.

Biogen's application for marketing approval in Japan was filed and designated for priority review in January and approved in September.

Leqembi received its first approval in the USA in July.

The usual dose of lecanemab (recombinant) is 10mg/kg infused intravenously over approximately one hour, once every two weeks.

The NHI Drug Price is set at: Leqembi intravenous Infusion 200mg 45,777 yen per vial and 500mg 114,443 yen per vial

This means that Leqembi will cost about 2.98 million yen ($20,438) per patient per year, versus around $26,500 in the USA.