Biogen CEO is confident that Alzheimer’s drug will give edge over Lilly

Biogen Inc.’s new at-home Alzheimer’s drug will provide an advantage over Eli Lilly Co.’s competing therapy, according to Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher.

While Lilly’s drug Kisunla has gained significant market share despite launching more than a year after Biogen and Eisai Co.’s Leqembi, with new patients now split evenly between the two treatments, Biogen is positioning it’s at-home injection option as a key differentiator.

US regulators last year approved patients to continue using the at-home version of Leqembi after completing the first 18 months of infusions at medical facilities.

Biogen and Eisai expect to receive US approval by mid-2026 that would allow patients to start Leqembi treatment at home from the beginning – a feature not available with Lilly’s drug.

“We think the subcutaneous will be much preferred to the infusion,” Viehbacher said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday at the JPMorgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco, adding that this home treatment option “will probably be the most important driver for growth.”