BioArctic AB's (publ) partner Eisai announced that Leqembi®? (brand name in China: "Le Yi Bao", generic name: lecanemab-irmb) has been approved in China as a treatment for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild AD dementia. China is the third country to grant marketing approval, following the traditional approval in the United States in July 2023 and Japanese approval in September 2023.

Eisai's preparations for the Chinese launch in the third quarter 2024 are underway. Amyloid-beta (Ab) is a protein that forms and breaks down naturally in the brain. In Alzheimer's disease, there is an imbalance between the production and elimination of Ab, which then causes the protein to aggregate, first in smaller, soluble forms, oligomers and protofibrils, and eventually insoluble fibrils and plaques.

Leqembi selectively binds to soluble (protofibrils), as well as insoluble Ab aggregates (fibrils), thereby reducing both Ab protofibrils and Ab plaques in the brain. Leqembi is the first and only approved treatment shown to reduce the rate of disease progression and to slow cognitive and functional decline through this mechanism. Leqembi's approval in China is based on the large global Phase 3 Clarity AD study.

In the Clarity AD study, Leqembi met its primary endpoint and all key secondary endpoints with statistically significant results. In November 2022, the results of the Clarity AD study were presented at the 2022 Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) conference, and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal. Eisai estimates that there are 17 million patients with MCI or mild dementia due to AD in China today, which is expected to increase with the aging of the population.

Eisai will distribute the product in China and will conduct information provision activities through specialized Medical Representatives. Moving forward, Eisai will focus on AD awareness via omnichannel systems and collaborate with specialists to improve the diagnostic environment, including blood-based biomarkers. In addition, by utilizing online health platform for the elderly "Yin Fa Tong"1, which is already being accessed by a certain number of users and helping provide treatments, Eisai is providing a one-stop service that promotes early consultation by referring patients to medical specialists and follow-up after treatment.

Leqembi (lecanemab) is the result of a strategic research alliance between BioArctic and Eisai. Leqembi is a humanized immunoglobulin gamma 1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibody directed against aggregated soluble (protofibril) and insoluble forms of amyloid-beta (Ab). Leqembi is an amyloid beta-directed antibody indicated as a disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the US.

Leqembi was granted traditional approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 6, 2023. Treatment with Leqembi should be initiated in patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia stage of disease, the population in which treatment was initiated in clinical trials. There are no safety or effectiveness data on initiating treatment at earlier or later stages of the disease than were studied.

In Japan, Eisai received approval from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) on September 25, 2023, to manufacture and market lecanemab as a treatment for slowing progression of MCI and mild dementia due to AD. Eisai has also submitted applications for approval of lecanemab in 11 countries and regions, including EU, Canada and Great Britain. Eisai has completed a lecanemab subcutaneous bioavailability study, and subcutaneous dosing is currently being evaluated in the Clarity AD (Study 301) open-label extension (OLE) study.

A maintenance dosing regimen has been evaluated as part of the Phase 2b study. Since July 2020 Eisai's Phase 3 clinical study (Ahead 3 clinical study (AHEAD 3-45) for individuals with preclinical AD, meaning they are clinically normal and have intermediate or elevated levels of amyloid in their brains, is ongoing. AHEAD 3-45 is ongoing.AHEAD 3-45 is conducted as a public-45 is ongoing.

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Since January 2022, the Tau NexGen clinical study for Dominantly Inherited AD (DIAD), that is conducted by Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU), led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is ongoing and includes lecanemab as the backbone anti-amyloid therapy.