Asia Tech Wire (June 24) -- The first drug to treat Alzheimer's disease is about to enter Chinese hospitals, according to Chinese media outlet Yicai.

In January, China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved lecanemab-irmb (brand name: LEQEMBI), a new drug co-developed by Japanese pharma company Eisai and its U.S. counterpart Biogen.

The drug is for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia stage of disease.

A Yicai reporter learned from relevant hospitals in Shanghai that there will be the first prescription for lecanemab-irmb next week.

The drug has not yet entered China's national medical insurance catalog, and patients pay about 180,000 yuan (US$24,787) for a year's treatment out of pocket.

In this regard, Eisai said, "We are still waiting for the import drug test from the Chinese National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC), and will ship into hospitals if it passes."

"We currently expect the drug to be in clinical use next week," the company said.

Previously, Eisai expected lecanemab-irmb to come into hospitals in late June and early July this year, with some hospitals in Shanghai and Beijing on the first supply list.

However, Eisai later withdrew the list after some Chinese hospitals reflected that they were not on the list, causing controversy.