Eisai leads charge to develop dementia biologics, says analyst

Around the world, life expectancy continues to increase while birth rates fall, leading to aging populations that are increasingly vulnerable to dementia.

Between 2019 and 2023, there will be a 7% increase in the number of dementia cases across the seven major markets (7MM: USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and Japan), leading to approximately 1.5 million extra patients, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.

Eisai (TYO: 4523), the third-largest Japanese pharma company by market capitalization, has invested in a research facility in Cambridge, USA, to develop alternatives to small molecule therapies for the treatment of dementia. The facility will focus on novel biologic therapies such as gene and cell therapies that could help alleviate and possibly cure dementia. Moreover, according to GlobalData, more than 45 other pharma companies are pivoting to clinical development of biologics for this underserved indication.