Key Highlights:
- Eisai has launched Leqembi (lecanemab) in India after receiving CDSCO approval. The disease-modifying therapy (DMT) is indicated for patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, including those with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and mild dementia, marking the introduction of a disease-modifying treatment in India.
- Leqembi is a humanized monoclonal antibody that selectively targets aggregated amyloid-beta, helping clear existing plaques while reducing new plaque formation. The therapy has already been approved in the U.S., Japan, Europe, and select other countries, with emerging real-world evidence supporting its potential to slow disease progression.
- The launch addresses India’s growing dementia burden, where an estimated 8.8 million people aged 60 and above were living with dementia in 2023, representing a 7.4% prevalence, according to the AIIMS–USC LASI study. The number is projected to nearly double by 2036, underscoring the need for earlier diagnosis and disease-modifying treatment options.
Implications:
The launch positions Eisai to capture first-mover advantage in India’s underpenetrated dementia market, where prevalence is already large and expected to grow quickly, making earlier diagnosis and specialist referral more commercially important. Because Leqembi is the first approved DMT in this setting and is backed by multi-country approvals plus emerging real-world evidence, it could establish the treatment pathway and hospital infrastructure for future amyloid-directed therapies, although adoption will likely be constrained by IV administration requirements, diagnostic workup, and affordability in a market that has historically lacked reimbursed disease-modifying options.
Source: ExpressPharma
