Real-World Study Finds Subcutaneous Leqembi Reduced Treatment Burden and Improved Patient Experience in Early Alzheimer’s
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Clinical benefit of subcutaneous (SC) Leqembi appeared to persist through 36 months after transition to SC maintenance.
- Patients strongly preferred SC vs intravenous (IV) Leqembi dosing, with no participants returning to IV therapy.
Results from a real-world study presented at the 2026 Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) suggest that patients with early Alzheimer's disease who transitioned from IV to subcutaneous (SC) Leqembi (lecanemab-irmb; Eisai, Tokyo, Japan; Biogen, Cambridge, MA) therapy maintained clinical benefit through 3 years while reporting substantially greater treatment satisfaction and convenience.
The retrospective analysis included 34 patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease treated at the Alzheimer's Research and Treatment Center in Wellington, Florida. Participants had a mean age of 72.4 years, and the cohort consisted of 75% patients with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer disease and 25% with mild Alzheimer disease. All had completed 18 months of IV Leqembi before transitioning to weekly SC maintenance therapy. Twenty-eight patients were included in the efficacy analysis and compared with a matched historical Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort.
Investigators found that patients who transitioned to SC Leqembi demonstrated less worsening on the Clinical Dementia Rating–Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) through 36 months than the matched historical cohort. The separation between the groups increased over time, suggesting that the clinical benefit achieved during the initial IV Leqembi treatment phase was maintained after the switch to SC Leqembi administration. Because the study was retrospective, single-center, and used a historical control rather than a randomized comparator, the findings should be interpreted cautiously.
For clinicians, the more practice-changing finding may be the patient experience. All survey respondents preferred SC over IV administration, citing faster treatment, greater convenience, and improved comfort. Nearly all participants (97%) rated treatment satisfaction and convenience favorably, 91% reported feeling comfortable with self-injection, and none chose to return to IV therapy after transitioning to SC dosing.
The results suggest that SC maintenance therapy could reduce infusion-center visits and lessen treatment burden for appropriate patients while preserving the long-term benefits of amyloid-targeting therapy. However, the poster did not report new safety outcomes, including amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), and standard monitoring recommendations remain unchanged.
Source
Watson D, Neam MG, Stafford M, et al. Subcutaneous lecanemab administration in an Alzheimer’s disease treatment center: real-world clinical outcomes and patient experiences. Poster presented at: Alzheimer’s Association International Conference; July 12-15, 2026; London, UK. Poster 1556.