The drug is called Aducanumab and is from pharmaceutical company Biogen. “The drug could slow down the disease. It is therefore mainly intended for patients who are in an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. People who have been living with the disease for a while do not benefit from this,” a spokesperson for Alzheimer Nederland told RTL Nieuws.
Still uncertainties
There are still some uncertainties about the therapy, because the drug has already been approved after one study. Normally there are two studies about this, but because there is no alternative medicine, the FDA approved it anyway. The second study is also still being done, the FDA is still working on it.
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Many pharmaceutical companies had more or less given up on the search for a good drug for slowing the disease. Pharmaceutical company Biogen had also stopped developing the drug in 2019.
But a new analysis found that it caught on. Alzheimer’s is caused by the accumulation of certain proteins in the cranial nerve cells. That process is reduced by the drug Aducanumab.
And the Netherlands?
It remains to be seen whether the drug will be used in the Netherlands. In 2020, Biogen applied for approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). If the drug is approved, there will first be a whole procedure that can take a long time, says a spokesperson for Alzheimer Nederland. The product will then be available in the second half of 2022 at the earliest.
The FDA has instructed Biogen to conduct research into the effect of the drug in patients. “If the drug doesn’t work as intended, then we can take steps to take it off the market,” the pharmaceutical company said in a statement.
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