Biogen, Eisai Completes Rolling Submission for LEQEMBI for Subcutaneous Early Alzheimer's

  Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") and Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB, Corporate headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts, CEO: Christopher A. Viehbacher, "Biogen") announced today that Eisai has completed the rolling submission of a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for lecanemab-irmb (U.S. brand name: LEQEMBI®) subcutaneous autoinjector for weekly maintenance dosing after it was granted Fast Track designation by the FDA. LEQEMBI is indicated for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or mild dementia stage of disease (collectively referred to as early AD). If the FDA accepts the BLA, the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date (target date for completion of examination) will be set. 

The BLA is based on data from the Clarity AD (Study 301) open-label extension (OLE) and modeling of observed data. If approved by the FDA, the LEQEMBI autoinjector could be used to administer LEQEMBI at home or at medical facilities, and the injection process is expected on average to take about 15 seconds. As part of the subcutaneous autoinjector 360 mg weekly maintenance regimen under review, patients who have completed the biweekly intravenous (IV) initiation phase would receive weekly doses that maintain effective drug concentrations to sustain the clearance of highly toxic protofibrils* which can continue to cause neuronal injury even after the amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaque has been cleared from the brain.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eisai-completes-rolling-submission-to-us-fda-for-leqembi-lecanemab-irmb-biologics-license-application-for-subcutaneous-maintenance-dosing-for-the-treatment-of-early-alzheimers-disease-under-the-fast-track-status-302293541.html