Alzheimer's Disease-Modifying Therapy in China

Lecanemab and donanemab are intravenous monoclonal antibodies that bind amyloid-beta and promote clearance of the plaques that characterise Alzheimer's disease. They are disease-modifying in a narrow sense: trial data show a slower rate of cognitive and functional decline, not improvement or reversal.

Both are indicated only for mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease and mild Alzheimer's dementia. Once disease has progressed to moderate or severe dementia, neither is indicated — which is why the diagnostic pathway matters as much as the drug.

Both products were approved through priority review as Class 1 therapeutic biologics. Lecanemab's dosing schedule was later extended, which matters more for a patient travelling to China than it first appears.

Both drugs are nationally approved, so the question is not whether they are legal in China — it is whether a specific hospital can run the full pathway: a memory clinic that confirms amyloid status, an infusion service, and MRI follow-up for amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA).

Availability at hospital level is not published anywhere. We confirm it during intake, and we say so plainly when a centre cannot currently take a new patient.

• •Hospital directory →
• •Companion & interpretation service →

Before a first infusion, amyloid pathology has to be confirmed — by amyloid PET, cerebrospinal fluid, or a blood biomarker, depending on the centre. APOE ε4 genotype and anticoagulation status feed into the ARIA risk discussion, and baseline MRI is part of the work-up.

Patients already on another amyloid-targeting antibody, or with a history of ARIA, fall outside routine practice and are assessed case by case.

Eligibility is decided by the treating neurologist. Nothing on this page is an assessment of whether a specific patient is eligible.

Neither product has a published national price in China, and neither is covered by public insurance for foreign self-pay patients. The diagnostic work-up — PET, genetic testing, MRI — is billed separately and varies substantially by city and hospital tier.

We obtain the current figures in writing from the specific centre before you commit to a treatment plan.

Published price band: not published — we obtain it in writing from the specific hospital.

The realistic constraint for an overseas patient is the induction phase: two-weekly infusions for 18 months. A treatment plan only makes sense if it says what happens after the patient goes home.

• •Send the diagnosis, cognitive assessment scores, MRI report and any existing amyloid testing.
• •We identify centres that can complete the work-up and start treatment within your travel window.
• •The centre reviews records and confirms whether amyloid confirmation can be done on site.
• •Plan the induction phase, then the maintenance schedule — including whether your home clinician will continue it.
• •Interpretation and accompaniment for consultations, infusions and follow-up imaging.