A drug that removes amyloid plaque from the brain has been approved for use in people living with dementia in the United States.
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Lecanemab is a treatment for people in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment.
The drug is the second FDA approved medication which removes amyloid plaque from the brain. Amyloid plaques are thought to cause the damage in the brain that leads to Alzheimer's disease.
Aducanumab was the first drug in this category approved by the US's Food and Drug Administration.
Both lecanemab and aducanumab remove amyloid from the brain but each drug binds to the amyloid in a slightly different way.
Neither drug is available in Australia yet, but their approval for use in the US has given hope to people Down Under.
Dementia Australia honorary medical advisory associate, Professor Michael Woodward, said the rate of memory and other decline associated with Alzheimer's disease can be reduced through removing the toxic amyloid protein.
"The approval of lecanemab is an advancement in our progress towards finding a treatment for Alzheimer's disease," he said.
"A trial of the drug found a 27 per cent decline in disease progression over 18 months. What this means is that if you took the drug for two years you would be up to nine months better off and that is a significant benefit.
"It means nine months longer with our loved ones - nine months longer of doing the things we love."
Professor Woodward said lecanemab can cause side effects and these need to be monitored with regular brain scans.
"I see lecanemab as an important step and a move in the right direction for treating Alzheimer's disease for which we still do not have a cure," he said.
