Phoenix-area man receives new Alzheimer’s treatment
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — There’s new hope for the millions of Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and their families
The FDA recently approved a treatment for early symptomatic Alzheimer’s.
Eli Lilly’s Kisunla is a once-a-month injection that slows cognitive and functional decline by up to 35%.
On Friday, a Valley man named Jim Sanson became one of the first people in the U.S. to receive it.
Jim and Susie Sanson said it’ll buy them more time to spend with each other and their kids and grandkids.
“I’m very lucky with the doctors that I’ve had and the doctors that I have. I’m very lucky,” said Jim.
“We have a lot of plans. We got to get him well lot of places to go, yes we do, people to see and things to do,” said Susie.
Only people with early or mild cases of Alzheimer’s are eligible for the drug.
Even then, there is a multistep process patients will need to go through to be approved.
Costs will also vary by patient, but the company said a year’s worth of therapy would cost $32,000.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, nearly 7 million Americans are living with the disease, and it’s the fifth-leading cause of death among people ages 65 and older.
Kisunla is only the second drug that’s been convincingly shown to delay cognitive decline in patients, following last year’s approval of a similar drug from Japanese drugmaker Eisai.
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