US FDA approves Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday gave a green light to Eli Lilly’s donanemab for patients with early Alzheimer’s, making it the second approved drug for slowing the progress of the brain-wasting disease.

The approval for the drug branded Kisunla is in line with the recommendations of the agency’s outside experts who unanimously backed the use of the drug in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, saying that the benefits of the drug outweighed its risks.

Lilly has priced Kisunla at $695.65 per vial, which would be $32,000 for a 12-month treatment.

(Reporting By Deena Beasley in Los Angeles and Bhanvi Satija and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Vijay Kishore)