Overview

• Final guidance due this week will see lecanemab and donanemab turned down for NHS funding on cost-effectiveness grounds
• Clinical trials showed both drugs slow cognitive decline by about four to seven months through clearance of amyloid plaques
• Around 70,000 adults in England could lose access to NHS treatment and face private charges of £60,000–£80,000 per year
• Regulators have flagged safety risks after reports of brain swelling and bleeding in a significant share of trial participants
• Alzheimer’s Research UK warned that the decision risks undermining the UK’s standing in dementia research and deterring life sciences investment