What has SMC said?
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has not recommended lecanemab for treating adults with mild cognitive impairment (memory and thinking problems) and mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (early Alzheimer’s disease). It is for use in patients who have one copy of a gene called ApoE e4 or no copies of this gene.
This document summarises the SMC decision and what it means for patients.
You can find more detailed information about the SMC assessment of lecanemab by looking at the SMC Detailed Advice Document (SMC2700).
What does SMC’s decision mean for patients?
Lecanemab for use as described above should not normally be prescribed on the NHS in Scotland. Your healthcare professional should talk with you about other treatment options.
If your healthcare professional thinks you would benefit from it, they can make a request to prescribe lecanemab. All health boards have procedures in place to consider these requests.
You can find more information about making decisions about your treatment in this booklet called: Medicines in Scotland: What’s the right treatment for me?
More about SMC’s decision
SMC was unable to accept lecanemab for routine use. The evidence from the company about the benefits the medicine offers when compared to current treatments was not strong enough to justify the additional cost of the medicine. In addition, the evidence provided by the company on how well the medicine works, along with how much it would cost to use it, was not strong enough.
How does SMC make its decision?
SMC carefully considers every new medicine to make sure it benefits patients and is likely to be a good use of NHS resources.
To do this SMC studies the following:
- Evidence from the company about how well the medicine works compared with current treatments available in Scotland, in relation to how much they will cost to buy and use to treat
- Information from patient groups about the potential impact of the medicine on patients and carers.
- Advice from healthcare professionals about any benefits of the new medicine compared to current treatment, along with how the new medicine is likely to be
When SMC assesses a medicine it takes account of the needs of all patients in NHSScotland, not only those who may be treated with the medicine.
You can find out more about how SMC decides here: https://www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/how- we-decide/
More information and support
The organisations below can provide more information and support for people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. SMC is not responsible for the content of any information provided by external organisations.
Alzheimer Scotland
0808 808 3000
Alzheimer’s Research UK
https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org
Dementia UK
0800 888 6678
You can find out more about lecanemab (Leqembi®) in the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) by searching for the medicine name on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) website.