Biogen ready with 1st drug to slowdown Alzheimer’s progression

Drug development company Biogen has announced that it will soon seek regulatory approval in USA for the release of its groundbreaking medicine aducanumab.  According to sources it will file the paperwork in early part of 2020 and will soon try to get approval for European markets too. Usually the approval process takes at least a couple of years and if successful the company wants to initially offer the drug to patients who were part of its clinical trials. This public announcement by the company has come as a surprise as it was reported earlier that Biogen had stopped work on the drug during 2019 March due to disappointing trial results.

Apparently a new analysis of larger dataset from the same studies showed that high doses of aducanumab can provide enhanced benefits to patients with early onset of Alzheimers. The company says that the drug was successful in slowing down clinical decline among and helping patients preserve more parts of their memory and living skills for everyday tasks that this brain disease usually robs. This drug targets a protein called amyloid which forms abnormal deposits in the brain of people with Alzheimer’s. These plaques are toxic to cells of the brain and clearing them with the help of drugs could be a great advancement in treatment of dementia though not a cure.

CEO of Biogen Michel Vounatsos stated that people suffering from Alzheimer’s have waited for several years for a life changing drug and this announcement shows offers them new hope. Taking a deeper look at aducanumab is a good step for everyone involved in its clinical trials and the dementia research community across the world. Prof Bart De Strooper, Director of UK Dementia Research Institute stated that it is great to hear about these positive results emerging from trials of aducanumab. Hopefully this could be a turning point for effective treatment to slow down progression of Alzheimer’s disease.