First patients in SWMO receive Kisunla infusions at CMH this week

• 18 September 2024

Missouri Memory Center leads the way in clinical use of new Alzheimer’s medication, Kisunla

The first patients in southwest Missouri to receive the recently approved Alzheimer’s disease medication, Kisunla (donanemab), will be treated at Citizens Memorial Hospital (CMH) Infusion Center in Bolivar this week.

Neurologist Curtis P. Schreiber, M.D., and his team at Missouri Memory Center at CMH and the CMH Research Department participated in the clinical research trial that led to the FDA approval of Kisunla on July 2. The CMH system was also the first health system in Missouri to add Kisunla to its formulary.

“Now, for the first time ever, there are options for patients with memory concerns related to Alzheimer’s disease who are diagnosed when the symptoms are in the early stages,” said Dr. Schreiber. “Kisunla is the second medication fully approved by the FDA in less than a year that can slow down the progression of cognitive changes and loss of ability to function at a normal level in daily life. But it is important to note that these treatments are only available to patients who are fully diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the early stages of the disease. This includes the mild dementia stage, but also for those who are not yet in the dementia stage of Alzheimer’s but have what is called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), when the onset of Alzheimer’s is proven by testing.”

Studies show Kisunla significantly slows cognitive and functional decline in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.

“We have entered a new era of being able to detect Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages, even in the MCI stage, thanks to new state-of-the-art diagnostic tests called biomarkers,” said Dr. Schreiber. “We have been using biomarkers in our Alzheimer’s research program for several years. These same tests are now being used in our clinic to accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s disease earlier than before. In order to be a candidate for the new medications that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the diagnosis must be proven with biomarker testing.”

Kisunla is administered by intravenous infusion every four weeks. It works by reducing amyloid plaques in the brain, which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

“The new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) opens up more options than ever before for people with the earliest stages of AD. Not everyone is a candidate, but for the right patient at the right stage of Alzheimer’s, there are more options to consider,” said Dr. Schreiber.

Dr. Schreiber is board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and in headache medicine by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties. He has more than 35 years of experience practicing neurology in southwest Missouri and is the only diplomate in the subspecialty of Headache Medicine in the region.

Dr. Schreiber attended medical school and completed his residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of all neurological conditions ranging from Alzheimer's disease to neuropathy and all forms of headache. He is the medical director of the Missouri Memory Center, CMH Research Department, and the CMH Neurology & Headache Center in Bolivar.

For more information on Alzheimer’s disease research at CMH, call 417-328-7781 or email kasie.atchison@citizensmemorial.com. For more information about Kisunla, visit https://kisunla.lilly.com/.