US regulators have approved the first new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease in almost two decades by giving a green light to a drug developed by Biogen despite a rancorous scientific debate over whether the medicine works.
In a significant moment for the roughly 35m people suffering from the cognitive illness worldwide, the US Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved aducanumab, an intravenous infusion that will cost $56,000 for a yearly course.
Aducanumab, which will be sold under the brand name Aduhelm, is the first Alzheimer’s drug to be approved that purports to slow down the progression of the disease. The medicine breaks up clumps of amyloid plaques that form in the brain, which some scientists believe cause the illness.