(Reuters) -&nbsp;Japanese&nbsp;drugmaker&nbsp;Eisai&nbsp;Co Ltd said on Monday it had submitted a marketing authorisation application in&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;for its&nbsp;Alzheimer's&nbsp;drug&nbsp;lecanemab, which was recently granted accelerated&nbsp;approval&nbsp;in the United States.
The&nbsp;drug, developed in partnership with Biogen Inc , is an antibody that has been shown to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta from the brains of those in the early stages of the mind-wasting disease.
The company's application is based on results from a late-stage study in which the&nbsp;drug&nbsp;was shown to reduce the rate of cognitive decline in patients with early&nbsp;Alzheimer's&nbsp;by 27%, compared with a placebo.
Nearly all previous experimental&nbsp;drugs using the same approach have failed.
Earlier this month,&nbsp;Eisai&nbsp;also applied for full&nbsp;approval&nbsp;of the&nbsp;drug&nbsp;with the U.S. Food and&nbsp;Drug&nbsp;Administration (FDA) as a treatment for patients in the earliest stages of the neurodegenerative disease.
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(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue and Gerry Doyle)

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Eisai files for approval of Alzheimer's drug in Japan