ICER’s Leqembi Assessment Inches Higher, Still Sees Eisai Price As Too High

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) issued its revised evidence report on 1 March assessing the clinical effectiveness and value of Eisai Co., Ltd./Biogen, Inc.’s Alzheimer’s therapy Leqembi (lecanemab), which slightly increased the price range it deemed cost effective for the amyloid protofibril-clearing antibody from $8,500-$20,600 in a draft assessment issued in December to a new range of $8,900-$21,500 – still $5,000 below the $26,500 annual list price set by Eisai early this year.

It is likely that the net price of Leqembi ultimately will end up within the cost-effective range outlined by ICER, based on Eisai’s commentary regarding the product’s cost when it won accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration on 6 January. However, access to the therapy largely lies with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is unlikely to decide whether to provide Medicare coverage for Leqembi until after the FDA grants full approval, potentially as soon as in July