Nine months into the US launch of the first drug proven to slow the advance of Alzheimer's, Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi is facing an unexpected hurdle to widespread use: an entrenched belief among some doctors that treating the memory-robbing disease is futile. Alzheimer's experts had anticipated bottlenecks due to Leqembi's requirements, which include additional diagnostic tests, twice-monthly infusions and regular brain scans to guard against potentially lethal side effects. And those issues have played a role in slow adoption since the drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, according to interviews with 20 neurologists and geriatricians from practices in 19 states. |
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