Alzheimer’s Patients’ Access to New Drug Hangs on Medicare

Widespread access to the Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab from Eisai Co. and its partner Biogen Inc. hinges on whether the Medicare agency will require more data before it’ll pay for it.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicated it would consider covering lecanemab for Medicare patients, including those outside clinical trials, after the Food and Drug Administration approved it earlier this month.

The drug delays the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, though only modestly, a trial found. Lecanemab works by removing toxic brain deposits of a protein called amyloid.

The potential for CMS to make a national coverage change would mark ...