The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, May 4, edition that Health Canada has approved a second drug targeting the underlying cause of Alzheimer's disease, potentially offering Canadian patients more options to slow the illness. The Globe's Kelly Grant writes that access to this costly treatment, however, will depend on government drug plans, which have so far declined to cover a similar medication approved last year. Eli Lilly Canada received notice from Health Canada on Friday for the approval of donanemab, a once-monthly intravenous therapy for people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. The approval came more than two years after Health Canada began reviewing the drug in February, 2024. Donanemab, marketed as Kisunla, is a new class of disease-modifying Alzheimer's drugs that targets and clears beta-amyloid, a protein that clumps in the brain and leads to cell death, unlike older drugs that only address symptoms. However, neither donanemab nor lecanemab, the Alzheimer's treatment approved in Canada last October, are cures. They only slow cognitive decline, allowing some patients to remain longer in mild stages of the disease. Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia."