(Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday removed a national policy that restricted coverage for a type of brain scan called PET needed by doctors to determine if patients are eligible for newly developed Alzheimer’s drugs.
The new drugs include Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi, and an experimental drug from Eli Lilly known as donanemab, which work by removing a protein called beta amyloid from the brain.
The change removes the once-per-lifetime limit on beta amyloid PET scans that restricted their use to clinical trials.
Alzheimer’s, which gradually destroys memory and thinking skills, is characterized by changes in the brain including buildup of amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles that result in loss of neurons responsible for transmitting information.
People who might benefit from a new amyloid-removing drug need those changes diagnosed through a cognitive assessment and a PET brain scan or an invasive test called cerebrospinal fluid test, which requires a lumbar puncture.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
