The European Union has approved Eli Lilly's drug "Kisunla" for Alzheimer's disease

 The European Union on Thursday approved, under strict conditions, Kisunla from Eli Lilly, a new generation of Alzheimer's disease treatments whose actual benefits have sparked intense medical controversy.

The European Commission announced in a statement that it had "authorized the marketing of Kisunla, intended for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment, including mild dementia in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease."

Kisunla, produced by Eli Lilly and based on the molecule donanemab, and Lekimbi, developed by the Japanese companies Eisai and the American Biogen and based on the component lecanemab, are the two leading new treatments for Alzheimer's disease in recent years.

The benefits of these two drugs have sparked intense medical controversy. On the one hand, they have demonstrated unprecedented efficacy in clinical trials after decades of unsuccessful research to slow the deterioration of patients. On the other hand, this effect is still very limited, and some experts believe it makes little difference to the individual.

Furthermore, these two drugs can cause serious side effects, sometimes fatal, including bleeding and cerebral edema.

The European Union had previously approved the launch of Lekempi in late 2024, based on the advice of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), after initially rejecting it. However, the EU attached strict conditions to its approval.

The same approach was repeated for Kisunla, which was also approved after initial rejection by the EMA. It can only be given to patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and only if they do not have a genetic mutation that puts them at particular risk of side effects.