New hope for Alzheimer’s patients

The approval by the US Food and Drug Administration last Thursday of the antibody treatment Leqembi, which significantly slows the progression of Alzheimer's in its early stages, has given hope to millions of patients and their families. 

The drug is the fruit of the collaboration between American biotechnology company Biogen and Japan's Eisai.

Leqembi is an antibody that targets the sticky toxic plaques of amyloid beta protein that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's, gradually destroying vital cells in their neurons and thus their memory and cognitive functions. In the majority of patients given the drug, the brain plaques cleared up completely and the progression of the disease slowed down on average in all patients.

Its approval and launch is a great success both for Biogen and for the Greek Stelios Papadopoulos, until recently chairman of its...