FDA sets fast-track approval for costly Alzheimer’s drug

The Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 6 granted fast-track approval to a new Alzheimer's drug that clinical trials showed can slow the progression of the disease but could cost the health care system billions of dollars annually if approved, Axios reports. The annual price of Lecanemab, developed by Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co. Ltd. and Biogen Inc., will be $26,500, but the nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said last month that a cost-effective price would be between $8,500 and $20,600 a year.