Mumbai: Eli Lilly is positioning Alzheimer’s disease as a key part of its long-term innovation pipeline alongside obesity and metabolic therapies, as the US drugmaker expands its specialty medicine push in India, country head Winselow Tucker told ET.
“Alzheimer’s is part of our overall strategy and pipeline,” said Tucker, President and General Manager, Eli Lilly and Company (India), in an interview on Tuesday. “We do have a pipeline in neurodegenerative diseases.”
The company on Tuesday launched Lormalzi (donanemab), its once-monthly amyloid plaque-targeting therapy for early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease in India. The drug is expected to be available in the country this month through hospitals and pharmacies.
The treatment has been priced at Rs 91,688 per 350 mg vial in India. It is administered as an intravenous infusion once every four weeks and follows a finite treatment period of up to 18 months.
Also read | Eli Lilly halts India obesity awareness campaign after regulatory scrutiny, seeks rules clarity
“It is given on a monthly basis… and that can continue up to 18 months. But there is a finite period,” Tucker said. “We are also going to have an alternative access program that will help patients to get more access.”
The launch marks Lilly’s entry into India’s emerging market for disease-modifying Alzheimer’s therapies at a time when dementia cases are rising sharply due to ageing populations and delayed diagnosis.
“Right now it is about 8.8 million people who have dementia. And about 60-70% of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. It is expected that that is going to grow to over 19 million by 2036,” Tucker said. “So as you can see this is a growing problem.”
Also read | Novartis expands India role in global drug development
Unlike conventional Alzheimer’s medicines that mainly manage symptoms, donanemab targets amyloid plaques in the brain, which are considered one of the underlying drivers of disease progression.
“We are going to be launching a medicine which is a disease-modifying medicine,” Tucker said. “It will give patients a way to not just address the cognitive and functional symptoms, but the underlying pathophysiology of the disease.”
Tucker said diagnosis readiness remains one of the biggest hurdles for Alzheimer’s treatment in India, where patients are often diagnosed in later stages of the disease.
“One in ten patients with dementia get diagnosed or any treatment in India,” Tucker said. “There’s a big scope to increase awareness, diagnosis and so forth.”
The company said newer blood-based biomarker tests are expected to improve early diagnosis rates. These tests are emerging as a less invasive alternative to traditional diagnostic methods and are gradually becoming available at specialised centres.
Tucker said the Alzheimer’s launch reflects Lilly’s broader strategy of bringing more innovative therapies to India across obesity, oncology and neuroscience.
“We have been trying to accelerate how we bring all of that innovation to India,” he said.
The company, which has seen strong traction for its obesity therapy Mounjaro in India, said Alzheimer’s disease represents another major unmet medical need globally.
“We believe that launching a disease-modifying agent is a really step forward and part of our overall strategy of bringing strong innovation to India,” Tucker said.
He added that Lilly’s commitment to Alzheimer’s research spans more than three decades. “We spent nearly $11 billion researching Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
“Alzheimer’s is part of our overall strategy and pipeline,” said Tucker, President and General Manager, Eli Lilly and Company (India), in an interview on Tuesday. “We do have a pipeline in neurodegenerative diseases.”
The company on Tuesday launched Lormalzi (donanemab), its once-monthly amyloid plaque-targeting therapy for early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease in India. The drug is expected to be available in the country this month through hospitals and pharmacies.
The treatment has been priced at Rs 91,688 per 350 mg vial in India. It is administered as an intravenous infusion once every four weeks and follows a finite treatment period of up to 18 months.
Also read | Eli Lilly halts India obesity awareness campaign after regulatory scrutiny, seeks rules clarity
“It is given on a monthly basis… and that can continue up to 18 months. But there is a finite period,” Tucker said. “We are also going to have an alternative access program that will help patients to get more access.”
The launch marks Lilly’s entry into India’s emerging market for disease-modifying Alzheimer’s therapies at a time when dementia cases are rising sharply due to ageing populations and delayed diagnosis.
“Right now it is about 8.8 million people who have dementia. And about 60-70% of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. It is expected that that is going to grow to over 19 million by 2036,” Tucker said. “So as you can see this is a growing problem.”
Also read | Novartis expands India role in global drug development
Unlike conventional Alzheimer’s medicines that mainly manage symptoms, donanemab targets amyloid plaques in the brain, which are considered one of the underlying drivers of disease progression.
“We are going to be launching a medicine which is a disease-modifying medicine,” Tucker said. “It will give patients a way to not just address the cognitive and functional symptoms, but the underlying pathophysiology of the disease.”
Tucker said diagnosis readiness remains one of the biggest hurdles for Alzheimer’s treatment in India, where patients are often diagnosed in later stages of the disease.
“One in ten patients with dementia get diagnosed or any treatment in India,” Tucker said. “There’s a big scope to increase awareness, diagnosis and so forth.”
The company said newer blood-based biomarker tests are expected to improve early diagnosis rates. These tests are emerging as a less invasive alternative to traditional diagnostic methods and are gradually becoming available at specialised centres.
Tucker said the Alzheimer’s launch reflects Lilly’s broader strategy of bringing more innovative therapies to India across obesity, oncology and neuroscience.
“We have been trying to accelerate how we bring all of that innovation to India,” he said.
The company, which has seen strong traction for its obesity therapy Mounjaro in India, said Alzheimer’s disease represents another major unmet medical need globally.
“We believe that launching a disease-modifying agent is a really step forward and part of our overall strategy of bringing strong innovation to India,” Tucker said.
He added that Lilly’s commitment to Alzheimer’s research spans more than three decades. “We spent nearly $11 billion researching Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
