Usefulness of aducanumab is disputed but US approval will trigger push to make it available globally
A new drug for Alzheimer’s disease, the first in nearly 20 years, may be approved in the US on Monday, which would trigger pressure to make it available worldwide.
Any decision is likely to be controversial. While doctors, patients and the organisations that support them are desperate for treatments that can slow mental deterioration, the usefulness of the new drug,aducanumab, is disputed by scientists. Two trials were stopped in March 2019 because the drugs appeared not to work. The manufacturer, Biogen, said the drugs were unlikely to improve people’s memory and thinking.
