On Apr. 25, 2025, University of Washington announced that the Memory & Brain Wellness Center at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle has started treating patients with donanemab, an Alzheimer’s drug. The drug is similar to lecanemab, which the center began offering in late 2023.

The drugs cannot cure Alzheimer’s or reverse memory loss. They have been shown to slow the rate of cognitive decline in patients with mild impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.

Both drugs are monoclonal antibodies that bind to proteins called amyloid-beta. These proteins form insoluble clumps in the brain, amyloid plaques, which contribute to the brain damage that leads to dementia seen in Alzheimer’s disease. By binding to the proteins, the drugs’ antibodies stimulate the patient’s immune cells to clear amyloid from the brain.

Both drugs are given intravenously, but donanemab is administered once a month, versus every two weeks for lecanemab. Another advantage: Clinical trials showed that donanemab’s benefits were present even when the drug was stopped, once the amyloid plaques were cleared, potentially shortening the length of treatment.

Medicare covers treatment with both drugs. Private insurance coverage will depend on the provider and plan. Interested patients and family members should speak with their primary-care provider or neurologist.

To qualify for treatment, a patient must have early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, such as mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia, and evidence of amyloid plaques. Evidence of amyloid can be determined with special brain-imaging studies or tests of cerebral spinal fluid or blood.