Swedish memory-clinic study estimates anti-amyloid therapy eligibility

Researchers used records from 2,126 patients whose first diagnostic visit took place between 2016 and 2022 at seven specialist memory clinics in Stockholm. To estimate eligibility for lecanemab or donanemab, they applied key criteria from the therapies’ appropriate-use recommendations: an Alzheimer’s disease-type diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia, abnormal cerebrospinal-fluid amyloid-beta 42, and no apparent medical exclusion criteria. The cohort’s mean age was 77.1 years; 61.8% had MCI, 24.2% dementia and 13.7% subjective cognitive impairment.

In the main analysis, 11.5% of the full cohort met estimated eligibility criteria for either therapy: 10.6% for lecanemab and 11.5% for donanemab. Among those estimated to be eligible, 61.9% had MCI and 38.1% dementia; 57.9% had an A+T− biomarker profile. Estimates were lower under more conservative assumptions, including 2.7% when patients without MRI were considered ineligible. These are estimates based on retrospective clinic data and applied criteria, not observed treatment uptake or outcomes. The findings suggest that only a minority of patients in this cohort might qualify, with actual eligibility dependent on implementation requirements.