Faroes await decision on new Alzheimer’s drug

It will be some time before it is clear whether the new Alzheimer’s drug donanemab will be approved for use in the Faroe Islands, Kringvarp Føroya reports.

The Danish Medicines Council is expected to decide on 26 November whether to recommend donanemab. The Faroese Council for Specialised Hospital Medicines will then consider the matter.

The European Union approved donanemab and another new Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab, last year. However, the Danish Medicines Council has recommended against using lecanemab, as have the other Nordic countries, citing the risk of side effects and the cost.

The Faroese council normally follows decisions by its Danish counterpart and also considers the approach taken by other neighbouring countries, Health Minister Eyðdis Hartmann Niclasen said in a written answer to member of the Løgting Elsebeth Mercedis Gunnleygsdóttur.

If donanemab treatment is offered in the Faroe Islands, it is expected to cost around 15 million kroner a year, the minister said.

The Faroese council will decide its position soon after the Danish Medicines Council reaches its decision in November.