Is This Alzheimer's Drug a Breakthrough for Millions? Company Unveils Mixed Results

A drugmaker that discontinued two late-stage studies of an Alzheimer's drug earlier this year shared new data detailing how high doses of an experimental medication might retard decline, reports USA Today . Biogen in March stopped the studies of the drug aducanamab because early analysis indicated it was ineffective — yet in October the company claimed a new analysis determined a higher-dose version worked in a subset of study subjects. "If the findings are confirmed, it would have a major impact in the fight against Alzheimer's disease," said Eric Reiman with the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. "It would provide a clinically meaningful treatment for affected persons, and it would provide support for targeting amyloid." Biogen's Samantha Budd Haeberlein said early studies of aducanamab showed carriers of the Alzheimer's risk gene APOE4 had symptoms of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, or brain swelling, at higher doses. For people with this gene, the study initially limited doses of to six milligrams per kilogram of body weight. However, in March 2017 the dosage was adjusted to allow APOE4 carriers to take 10 milligrams per kilogram. The higher-dose aducanamab reduced clinical decline in people in one study, but not in the other study, so it is up to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to consider companion studies discontinued early with inconsistent results.