The Alzheimer’s disease-modifying drug candidate donanemab is on track to be considered for full federal approval by 2022, drugmaker Eli Lilly’s executives reported Tuesday in a quarterly earnings call.

Donanemab targets a form of beta amyloid, the protein that forms plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. It has been shown to be effective in reducing these plaques — a telltale sign of advancing dementia — in mid-stage clinical trials. Participants taking the drug for more than a year also showed a 32% slower decline in thinking and daily function measures when compared with a placebo group. 

Eli Lilly and other pharmaceutical companies have been inspired to move forward with Alzheimer’s drug candidates after the Food and Drug Administration approved Biogen’s beta amyloid-lowering drug Aduhelm in June. This flurry of research activity was one hoped-for outcome of Aduhelm’s approval.

Donanemab currently is in late-stage clinical trials and already has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA. Breakthrough designation speeds the development and review of drugs for serious conditions when early clinical evidence indicates that they may demonstrate “substantial improvement over available therapy,” according to FDA. 

Biogen’s Aduhelm was approved using this pathway, a landmark decision that proved controversial due to what some experts saw as Biogen’s inconsistent trial data, not to mention its great expense — $56,000.  

In the earnings call, Eli Lilly’s CEO David Ricks would not provide details on potential commercial pricing for donanemab if the drug is approved, but said his company’s aim is to prioritize access, according to Endpoints News. 

“Our goal isn’t just to get an approval but to make sure that the millions of Americans who could qualify for it have access,” Ricks said.

After donanemab, Genentech’s gantenerumab could be the next Alzheimer’s-modifying therapy in line for FDA approval, according to a report by market research firm Spherix.