Lilly to seek fast FDA approval for Alzheimer's drug

Wall Street high on hopes for another Alzheimer’s drug. Shares of Eli Lilly jumped 10% in early trading Thursday after the drug maker said it’ll apply for the Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval for its experimental Alzheimer’s drug this year.

Lilly’s stock had popped earlier this month when the FDA quickly gave the nod to Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug. That decision sparked controversy as critics questioned the strength of the clinical data.

Lilly said it plans to supply data from the mid-stage trial on its drug, donanemab. Back in January, the company said early results from that trial had showed the drug slowed the rate of decline in cognition and function in patients at an early stage of the disease that causes memory loss.

More than 6 million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to more than double by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. It’s the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.