Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s drug approved by Food and Drug Administration

Eli Lilly’s treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease received approval from the Food and Drug Administration, becoming the second therapy to help slow the disease’s progression. 

Experts unanimously backed its use in patients with early Alzheimer’s, saying that the drug’s benefits outweigh its risks such as brain bleeding and swelling. 

The drug is priced at about 695-dollars-per vial, or about 32-thousand-dollars for twelve months of treatment. 

Doctor Erik Musiek, a Washington University neurologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital commented that the details of how the drug will play out in clinical practice is unclear but believes that it will save a lot of money. 

The drug allows patients to stop taking the treatment once brain scans no longer show an Alzheimer’s-related protein.