(Yicai) Oct. 12 -- China has reportedly approved a new drug for Alzheimer's disease co-developed by Japan's Eisai and US Biogen for trial use in a pilot zone in southernmost China's Hainan province.

Leqembi will be soon on sale for CNY3,328.20 (USD456) per bottle in hospitals in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, The Paper reported today. Patients are only allowed to buy and use the drug inside the pilot zone, according to the rules.

Formed in 2013, the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone is China's only medical pilot zone. It has more than 20 hospitals.

Liu Jun, a neurological expert from Ruijin Hainan Hospital, affiliated with the School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiaotong University based in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, is in charge of the introduction of the drug, according to The Paper.

Eisai applied for marketing permission for Leqembi to China's regulatory authorities in December last year and will likely gain the approval no earlier than in the first half of next year, The Paper noted.

Leqembi slows down the deterioration in patients' cognitive and memory faculties by 27 percent after 18 months of use, according to a controlled study. The US Food and Drug Administration approved Leqembi for marketing in the US in July, becoming the first new Alzheimer's drug approved by the FDA over the past 20 years.

There are around 44 million people worldwide with Alzheimer's disease. The figure is growing faster amid the aging population and is expected to reach 130 million by 2050. China has nearly 10 million Alzheimer's patients, the largest and fastest-growing number worldwide.

Editor: Futura Costaglione