NBC News: New Alzheimer's drug comes with steep price tag
UC expert says doctors, patients will have to consider financial burden when making decision
Leqembi, a newly approved drug for use in people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease, comes with a price of $26,500 a year.
Experts say the high price, along with Medicare only covering the drug for patients enrolled in a clinical trial, will mean only a limited number of patients will be able to get the drug when it becomes available.
The University of Cincinnati's Alberto Espay, MD, professor of neurology in the UC College of Medicine, director and endowed chair of the James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and a UC Health physician, told NBC News the price of the drug is "very unfortunate."
Espay said doctors will need to include the financial burden as a possible risk of the drug when discussing its potential benefits of modestly slowing the disease. He is a proponent of an alternative theory that it is the loss of the normal amyloid protein, rather than the build-up of the abnormal amyloid plaques, that leads to degeneration.
Previously, Espay noted the benefits of Leqembi may stem from the fact that it increases levels of the normal protein in the brain in addition to its primary aim of removing plaques.
Read the NBC News article on the price of Leqembi.
Read the NBC News article featuring Espay about unanswered questions about Leqembi.
Espay also discussed Leqembi and the state of Alzheimer's research on WVXU's Cincinnati Edition. Listen to the Cincinnati Edition segment.
Read more about Espay's research and alternative Alzheimer's hypothesis.
Featured photo at top courtesy of Unsplash.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.