Exclusive-Eisai expects ‘big’ growth in China with launch of 1,500 Alzheimer’s patients By Reuters

© Reuters. File photo: A scientist looks at brain scans at the Memory Center of the Department of Adaptation and Geriatrics at the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 6, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File photo

Written by Julie Steenhuysen, Andrew Silver

CHICAGO/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Japan’s Eisai aims to launch its breakthrough Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi to 1,500 people in China later this year, but expects growth to accelerate significantly in 2025 as diagnostic methods change, a company spokeswoman said. told Reuters.

A spokesperson said the availability of a more convenient Alzheimer’s blood test would help Eisai cover a larger share of China’s estimated 17 million patients with the early-stage disease.

“China is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and one of the most important countries for Eisai’s Alzheimer’s disease space,” a company spokesperson said. “The growth potential for Leqembi in China is enormous.”

Eli Lilly (NYSE:), which is developing a similar treatment called donanemab, told Reuters it has applied for approval in China. The Indianapolis-based company is currently testing the drug on 1,500 volunteers in China, Taiwan, South Korea and the European Union, a spokeswoman said.

The scale of Eisai’s planned China launch and Lilly’s approval application submission were not previously reported.

Leqembi, which works by removing a toxic protein called beta-amyloid from the brain, is the first Alzheimer’s treatment proven to change the course of the fatal brain-wasting disease. China approved Requevi last January.

Eisai and its US partner Biogen (NASDAQ:) have already launched Leqembi in the US and Japan and are considering it in Europe.

This treatment, administered as an infusion twice a month, slowed disease progression by 27% in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s in clinical trials.

Treatments currently available in China have limited effectiveness, and Eisai’s trial results offer “a lot of hope” for patients, said Dr. Liu Zhou, an Alzheimer’s expert at Guangdong Medical University.

Eisai said it expects to begin using the drug in China by September, with a total of 1,500 patients by March 2025.

The company said Requevi’s sales could “grow significantly” in 2025 due to the anticipated introduction of blood tests to assess patients’ amyloid levels instead of PET scans or invasive lumbar punctures that require specialist access.

“I think it would arouse considerable interest if treatment became possible with just a blood test,” Citigroup analyst Hidemaru Yamaguchi said in a research note. He doesn’t have estimates for China, but outside Japan and the United States, he expects Leqembi sales to peak at 126 billion yen ($1.08 billion) in 2030.

Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment rates remain low in Asia’s largest economy, and awareness among medical professionals and the public about the disease is limited, according to the 2022 Alzheimer’s in China report published in BMJ General Psychiatry.

China’s Ministry of Health did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Experts said the country is increasing its imaging capacity.

Siemens Healthineers, which sells imaging equipment in China, said the molecular imaging market in China has grown more than 45% over the past four years.

‘Not ready’

Initially, Eisai plans to launch Leqembi into the Chinese civilian market, where it will be priced at about 200,000 yuan ($28,180) per year, about $2,000 more than in the United States.

Eisai said it would decide whether to provide government support after assessing private market demand.

Inclusion on China’s National Reimbursement Drug List usually means steep price reductions. The 2023 analysis estimated average negotiated price reductions to range from 44% to 61%.

To receive treatment, patients undergo cognitive testing, genetic testing to evaluate whether they carry genes that increase the side effects of drugs, and tests to check for abnormal levels of amyloid, a sticky substance in the brain that Requevi targets.

Once treated, appropriate patients undergo a series of MRI scans to monitor for potentially fatal brain swelling and hemorrhage.

Dr. Economist and Director of the Southern California Brain Health Observatory, which has consulted for both Eisai and Biogen. Soeren Mattke said China lacks a system of primary care doctors who can conduct preliminary tests and refer appropriate candidates to specialists.

Mattke and colleagues published an assessment of China’s readiness for disease-modifying treatments last July in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, concluding that the country is “unprepared for timely access to treatments for Alzheimer’s.”

“In China, there is very little specialty care in rural areas,” Mattke said.