(Yicai) Jan. 10 -- China has approved the use of Leqembi, an Alzheimer's treatment co-developed by Eisai and Biogen, making it the third country to green-light the drug after the United States and Japan.

China approved Leqembi following a small-scale trial lasting nearly three months in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in the country’s Hainan province, Tokyo-based Eisai said yesterday.

Leqembi is the world's first drug to delay cognitive decline by removing the pathogenic substance amyloid from the patient's brain, Eisai said.

Its approval is a major breakthrough in treating Alzheimer's disease in China, Dr. Yu Jintai, chief physician in the psychiatry department of Fudan University affiliate Huashan Hospital, told Yicai. It will improve the life quality of early-stage patients, extend their independence, and ease the burden on the people who look after them, Yu said.

China has nearly 10 million Alzheimer's patients, the largest and fastest-growing number in the world. There are around 44 million people globally with Alzheimer's, and the figure will likely reach 130 million by 2050 because of aging populations.

In the Hainan trial, Leqembi sold for CNY3,328 (USD465) a bottle, or about CNY260,000 (USD36,300) for a year’s treatment. But its China pricing has not been decided yet because the approval process was faster than expected, an Eisai employee told Yicai.

Leqembi costs USD26,500 in the US and JPY3 million (USD20,800) in Japan per year.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev