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Kisunla ™ (donanemab-azbt) injection, for intravenous infusion
350 mg/20 mL (17.5 mg/mL)
This information is provided in response to your request. Resources may contain information about doses, uses, formulations and populations different from product labeling. See Prescribing Information above, if applicable.
What is the optimum duration of treatment with Kisunla™ (donanemab-azbt)?
Clinical judgment, which may be informed by amyloid beta pathology, should be used when considering whether an individual patient’s dosing should be continued or stopped in the absence of a safety issue that otherwise warrants a change in dosing.
See important safety information, including boxed warning, in the attached prescribing information.
TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Study
The TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 study was designed to allow for the treatment course to be completed prior to the end of the 76-week trial if participants reached a prespecified level of amyloid plaque reduction. Participants were eligible to be switched from donanemab to placebo if the amyloid plaque levels were
Additional details about the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Study Design are available in the Appendix.
Use Clinical Judgment When Considering Donanemab Treatment Course
Consider stopping dosing with donanemab based on reduction of amyloid plaques to minimal levels on amyloid PET imaging.2 Clinical judgment should be used when considering whether an individual patient’s dosing should be continued or stopped in the absence of a safety issue. Clinical judgment may be informed by factors such as clinical assessments and amyloid beta pathology.
Dosing was continued or stopped in response to observed effects on amyloid imaging in the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 study. The percentages of donanemab-treated participants who were eligible to be switched to placebo based on amyloid PET levels were
In TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2, amyloid plaque was considered to be reduced to minimal levels when the amyloid plaque level was <24.1 CL on amyloid PET, which is consistent with a visually negative read of an amyloid PET scan.1,3
The percentages of donanemab-treated participants who met this threshold on amyloid PET were
- 30% at week 24
- 66% at week 52, and
- 76% at week 76.1
A post hoc analysis of the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 study shows that in participants who were eligible to be switched to placebo, the treatment effect persists after dose cessation (Treatment Effect Persists in Donanemab Participants Meeting Criteria for Dose Cessation as Measured by iADRS and CDR-SB).4
Figure 1 description: Donanemab treatment effect continues to widen even after participants are switched to placebo based on 6- or 12-month PET scan. The mean time in trial prior to switching to placebo for these participants was 47 weeks.
Abbreviations: CDR-SB = Clinical Dementia Rating–Sum of Boxes; iADRS = Integrated Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale; NCS = natural cubic spline; PET = positron emission tomography.
Notes: iADRS and CDR-SB used the NCS model with 2 degrees of freedom adjusted for basis expansion terms (two terms), basis expansion term-by-treatment interaction, and covariates for age at baseline, pooled investigator, baseline tau level, and baseline acetylcholinesterase inhibitor/memantine use. Participants that did not stop treatment were also included in the model but are not plotted here.
Nominal p-values: ** p<.01, *** p<.001, **** p<.0001.
The Appendix provides a description of the study populations by tau PET level at baseline.
These findings suggest that continued treatment may not be necessary after amyloid plaque reduction to minimal levels.3
Amyloid PET values may increase after treatment with donanemab is stopped.2
TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Long-Term Extension
Participants who completed the placebo-controlled period of the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 study were eligible to enter a 78-week double-blind long-term extension. Early start participants were those initially randomized to donanemab in the placebo-controlled period. Delayed start participants were those initially randomized to placebo in the placebo-controlled period and started donanemab in the long-term extension. Participants from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) were selected as external control.5
Of participants treated with donanemab who met donanemab dose stopping criteria by week 52 in the placebo-controlled period (N=126)
Of participants who were initially randomized to donanemab in the placebo-controlled period, 85% met dose stopping criteria based on amyloid PET criteria within 3 years.6
Amyloid Reaccumulation Modeled Across Donanemab Studies
Changes in individual donanemab trial participant amyloid plaque trajectories were used to inform a model to predict the rate of amyloid reaccumulation during an off-treatment period. Using a scenario with a post-treatment baseline amyloid level <11 CL in the model, the simulations estimated a median amyloid reaccumulation rate of 2.40 CL/year off treatment.5
Evaluation of Maintenance Dosing
As a US post-marketing commitment, Lilly will study maintenance dosing for donanemab following completion of our TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 3 preclinical Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial.7
Enclosed Prescribing Information
References
The published references below are available by contacting 1-800-LillyRx (1-800-545-5979).
1Sims JR, Zimmer JA, Evans CD, et al; TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Investigators. Donanemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer disease: the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2023;330(6):512-527. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.13239
2Kisunla [package insert]. Indianapolis, IN: Eli Lilly and Company; 2025.
3Navitsky M, Joshi AD, Kennedy I, et al. Standardization of amyloid quantitation with florbetapir standardized uptake value ratios to the Centiloid scale. Alzheimers Dement. 2018;14(12):1565-1571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2018.06.1353
4Sims JR. Donanemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease: clinical efficacy results from TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2. Poster presented at: Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC); July 16-20, 2023; Amsterdam, Netherlands.
5Sims JR. Donanemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease: efficacy and safety from the TRAILBLAZER‐ALZ 2 long-term extension. Presented as an oral presentation at: Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC); July 27-31, 2025; Toronto, Canada.
6Data on file, Eli Lilly and Company and/or one of its subsidiaries.
7Center for Drug Evaluation and Research for the US Food and Drug Administration. Kisunla BLA 761248 approval letter. July 2, 2024. Accessed July 15, 2025. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/2024/761248Orig1s000Approv.pdf
8Solomon PR. TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2: clinical background and study design. Abstract presented at: Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC); July 16-20, 2023; Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Appendix
TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Study Design
The safety and efficacy of donanemab were evaluated in TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2, a phase 3, placebo-controlled 72-week study. This study enrolled adults aged 60 to 85 years with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD), defined as
- prodromal AD, the symptomatic phase of AD in which mild cognitive impairment is apparent, or
- AD with mild dementia, in which symptoms are sufficiently severe to meet diagnostic criteria for dementia.1
Eligible participants had
- a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 20 to 28 (scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating better mental performance), and
- presence of amyloid pathology assessed by amyloid PET imaging (≥37 CL) with either florbetapir F 18 or florbetaben F 18, and tau pathology assessed by flortaucipir F 18 PET imaging.1
Definitions of Populations by Baseline Tau PET Levels
Population Analyzed |
Description |
Low/medium tau |
Population including participants with baseline
|
High tau |
Population including participants with baseline SUVr >1.46 and a topographic deposition pattern consistent with either moderate or advanced AD neuropathology. |
Combined population |
Population including participants with both low/medium tau and high tau levels. |
Abbreviations: AD = Alzheimer's disease; PET = positron emission tomography; SUVr = standard value uptake ratio.
Date of Last Review: July 14, 2025