New treatments for Alzheimer's in Canada

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]A whole new era has begun [music] for Alzheimer's patients in Canada. In the past 6 months, two drugs have been approved for use, but as CTV's Pauline Chan tells us, they're only for patients in the earliest stages.

[00:00:13]The news is good for patients like Greg Underhill and his wife Jocelyn.

[00:00:17]>> But we're very excited about the possibility Yeah. and the potential of the new drugs that they have approved now in Canada. Greg, age 52, is now using the most recently approved medication for Alzheimer's, donanemab.

[00:00:30]It is the second of the class of antibodies targeting amyloid, clearing amyloid from the brain. And amyloid is the first toxic protein that accumulates in Alzheimer's disease.

[00:00:44]>> And Dr. Sharon Cohen says both donanemab and lecanemab, approved last October, are only for patients in the earliest stages of the disease. So people are still independent, living at home. They may be working, shopping, banking, traveling, but they have some problems with memory and cognition. The drugs can only be prescribed by a neurologist or other memory specialists like geriatrician or specialist family doctor. She also points out that there can be side effects like tiny brain bleeds or swelling. With lecanemab, there's a little less propensity to cause those side effects, but with both drugs, we monitor for for those possibilities.

[00:01:24]>> I can't I always feel good. I'm not really sure I get She tells me when I, you know, I'm repeating myself lots, but I mean, right now, I don't think I'm really repeating much. Yeah. I'm not >> It's definitely gotten better since we started medication and treatment for Alzheimer's than what he was before.

[00:01:40]>> While both drugs have been approved, funding arrangements are still under negotiation. Lecanemab is $47,000 a year, donanemab about 30,000. Still, for the three-quarters of a million families dealing with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia in Canada, just having the two options available is a step in the right direction. Pauline Chan, CTV News.