Biogen to stop selling Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm

Biogen will stop developing its Alzheimer’s treatment Aduhelm, a drug once seen as a potential blockbuster before stumbling soon after its launch a couple years ago.

Biogen will stop developing its Alzheimer’s treatment Aduhelm, a drug once seen as a potential blockbuster before stumbling soon after its launch a couple years ago.

The drugmaker said Wednesday that it will end a study of the drug needed for full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, and it will stop sales of Aduhelm.

Patients taking doses of Aduhelm available through the commercial market can continue until November. A company representative said there are about 2,500 people worldwide taking Aduhelm.

Biogen said it will turn its focus more to other treatments for Alzheimer’s, a fatal, mind-robbing disease. The company also is helping Japanese drugmaker Eisai sell another Alzheimer’s treatment, Leqembi, which already has full FDA approval.

Leqembi is the first medicine that’s been convincingly shown to slow the cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer’s disease, though only modestly. Regulators have approved it for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer’s.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/biogen-stop-alzheimers-drug-aduhelm-rcna136619

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