The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved a new drug called Leqembi on Friday that treats early Alzheimer's by slowing the progression of the condition. Leqembi is the second of a new variety of medications approved that targets the origin of Alzheimer's. Eisai developed and tested the drug and will collaborate with Biogen Inc. which will market it.

"This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer's, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease," said Billy Dunn, director of the FDA's neuroscience unit.

Both Eisai and Biogen were in the spotlight only a couple of months ago following the report of a death in their Alzheimer's drug trial, which led Biogen's shares to drop over 5%. Nevertheless, Biogen's shares were up by 6.22% at 3:06 pm ET after today's news.