Japanese drugmaker Eisai said on Tuesday it was targeting revenue of 10 billion yen ($66.5 million) from its recently approved Alzheimer's drug, Leqembi, by March 2024.

The company said the launch of Leqembi in the United States was progressing as planned and that 10,000 patients were expected to be on the drug by the end of March 2024.

Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said the Leqembi patient target given by Eisai was "very achievable" and estimated the drug to generate revenue of $28 million in 2023.

The drugmaker said the number of neurologists and Alzheimer's disease specialists who were willing to prescribe Leqembi jumped to 2,500 in October from 1,400 in June.

Eisai, which has a 50:50 profit and loss sharing agreement for Leqembi globally with Biogen, has the final decision-making authority.

U.S. partner Biogen will report its third-quarter results on Nov. 8.

($1 = 150.4800 yen)

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)