FDA advisory panelist outlines issues with aducanumab’s approval for Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer's disease
PET scan of a human brain with Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: public domain

Despite near unanimous objection from its advisory panel, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted aducanumab approval to treat Alzheimer’s disease on June 7, 2021. In a commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine, a member and former Chair of the advisory panel and an aducanumab site investigator explain why this unprecedented “accelerated approval” is problematic for clinical research and patient care.

Under accelerated approval, a drug is approved based on its effect on a surrogate marker of a disease rather than clinical outcomes. The product is expected to provide a…

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