Eli Lilly’s new Alzheimer’s drug is a “forget-me-not” in medical innovation. On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Eli Lilly’sLLY

Alzheimer’s drug, donanemab, heralding a potential turning point in treating the deadly neurodegenerative disease. Marketed as Kisunla, this drug is the most effective Alzheimer’s therapy to date — reducing inflammation-causing amyloid plaques by up to 84% on average.

• Eli Lilly reports that donanemab’s results are highly meaningful — showing a 35% lower risk of disease progression over 18 months compared to a placebo.
• Kisunla is only the second drug, behind Eisai and Biogen’sBIIB
  lecanemab, to show convincing evidence of slowing Alzheimer’s progression.

The elephant in the room: Eli Lilly’s stock has soared 700% in the past five years, but maintaining that rally means tackling challenges in pharmaland. President Biden recently criticized pharma companies for charging “unconscionably high prices” for weight loss and diabetes drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro. While companies defend their pricing with patient affordability programs and discounts to pharmacy benefit managers, the administration has threatened action if prices aren’t substantially reduced.