FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf speaks at an occasion celebrating listening to aids being accessible over-the-counter at a Walgreens in Washington, D.C., Oct. 19, 2022.
Nathan Posner | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf praised results Eli Lilly introduced Wednesday {that a} medical trial confirmed its Alzheimer’s treatment donanemab slowed development of the illness.
“This is simply magnificent for a illness that is affected so many individuals,” Califf mentioned unprompted on the finish of an interview hosted by the U.S.-India Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
“And it is not simply these results. They are very per the results that we had already seen, so we’re cheering on right here on the FDA,” he mentioned on the chamber’s annual biopharma and health-care conference.
“We have to take a look at the info when it is available in earlier than making a judgment, but when the info look pretty much as good because the press launch — that is actually, actually thrilling,” the commissioner mentioned.
Patients who acquired Lilly’s month-to-month antibody infusion donanemab throughout an 18-month research demonstrated a 35% slower decline in reminiscence, in pondering and of their capability to conduct every day actions in contrast with those that didn’t obtain the treatment, in keeping with the corporate’s knowledge.
Lilly mentioned donanemab additionally considerably diminished mind plaque related to the illness.
The antibody treatment additionally carries dangers of mind swelling and bleeding that may be extreme and even deadly in uncommon circumstances. Three trial contributors died from these unintended effects.
The firm plans to submit its software for FDA approval of donanemab this quarter.
Califf mentioned he doesn’t make choices about particular person product approvals as a result of he is a political appointee. Full-time civil servants who’re prohibited from having monetary conflicts of curiosity make these choices, the commissioner mentioned.
Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific and medical officer, instructed CNBC that the corporate is working to get donanemab accepted and available on the market as rapidly as attainable. Skovronsky mentioned he believes the FDA feels the identical sense of urgency.
“Every day that goes by, there are some sufferers who go via this early stage of Alzheimer’s illness and develop into extra superior they usually will not profit from treatment,” he mentioned.
The FDA rejected Lilly’s request for expedited approval of donanemab in January. The company requested the corporate for extra knowledge on sufferers who acquired the treatment for at the least 12 months. Lilly mentioned it didn’t have the info on the time as a result of many sufferers had been in a position to cease the treatment early resulting from donanemab clearing their mind plaque rapidly.
Lilly now plans to ask the FDA for full approval of donanemab. This would presumably include broader protection from Medicare, which is essential for affected person entry as a result of most individuals who are suffering from the illness are senior residents.
Medicare is at present proscribing entry to Eisai and Biogen’s treatment Leqembi primarily based on a coverage that may solely cowl Alzheimer’s antibody therapies that obtain expedited FDA approval for sufferers taking part in medical trials.
Leqembi slowed cognitive decline in sufferers with early Alzheimer’s illness by 27%.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, has promised to cowl Alzheimer’s antibody therapies for all sufferers when such medicine obtain full approval. Biogen and Eisai mentioned they hope they’ll obtain the total FDA greenlight July 6.
But CMS nonetheless plans to require sufferers to take part in registries that accumulate knowledge on the medicines. The Alzheimer’s Association has mentioned such registries will proceed to limit entry to therapies and has referred to as on Medicare to drop these necessities.
Members of Congress and state attorneys general are additionally pushing for Medicare to offer full and unrestricted protection of FDA-approved Alzheimer’s antibody therapies.
Medicare instituted the coverage within the wake of the FDA’s controversial approval of Biogen and Eisai’s antibody treatment Aduhelm in June 2021. The company cleared Aduhelm on an expedited foundation over the objections of an unbiased advisory committee that warned the proof didn’t display a transparent medical profit.
Three members of the FDA advisory committee resigned over the company’s determination on Aduhelm.
An investigation by Congress discovered the FDA approval of Aduhelm was “rife with irregularities.”
