The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a re-dosing study for patients formerly enrolled in Biogen’s phase three clinical trials of its Alzheimer’s drug, aducanumab. The company said it expects patients to start receiving the drug again as early as March.
The announcement marks the latest development in the twisted tale of aducanumab. Almost a year ago, Biogen and its partner Eisai shocked the Alzheimer’s community by abruptly killing phase three studies of aducanumab, saying that the drug had failed “futility tests” and was therefore unlikely to be successful in treating the disease.
But in October, the company reversed itself and said that continued data analysis had instead demonstrated that the drug would be successful in treating Alzheimer’s.
At the time, Biogen said it would seek approval to market the drug from the FDA and, while awaiting a decision, would seek to begin offering the drug to the 2,400 people who had been enrolled in trials around the world.
In a statement emailed to Being Patient today, Biogen said that it is working with U.S. trial sites to start a new open-label clinical trial for all patients who were enrolled in the aducanumab studies. The company said it was also seeking approval for the new trial from regional regulators and institutional review boards in Europe and Japan.
“We wish to thank all patients who have participated in the development of aducanumab,” David Caouette, a spokesperson for Biogen, said. “We remain dedicated to working with urgency with the purpose of meaningfully changing the course of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Jeffrey Borghoff, a Being Patient adviser who had participated in the aducanumab trial, said he was excited to restart treatment.
“My family and I really felt that aducanumab was making a difference and we were all devastated when the trial was cancelled,” Borghoff said. “I am eager to see how I feel once I begin to receive the drug again in March.”
Participants in the new trial will receive monthly intravenous infusions of 10 mg/kg of aducanumab for a total of 100 weeks. Approximately 2,400 people who were enrolled in the trials as of March 2019 are eligible to participate in the new study. All participants in the new study will receive aducanumab; no one will receive a placebo.
In October, the company said that its new announcement was based on further data analysis that showed that patients who received aducanumab “experienced significant benefits” in memory and general cognition.
“Patients also experienced benefits on activities of daily living including conducting personal finances, performing household chores such as cleaning, shopping and doing laundry and independently traveling out of the home,” the company said.
Aducanumab targets the build-up of amyloid in the brain, which has long been suspected as a cause of Alzheimer’s. If approved by the FDA, aducanumab would be the first treatment to demonstrate that removing amyloid from the brain impacts Alzheimer’s.
Last October, Biogen presented data at the annual Clinical Trials for Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference that it said demonstrated that people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease who received a larger dose of aducanumab for a longer amount of time showed a statistically significant slowing of the disease.
At the conference, Stephen Salloway, Director of Neurology and of the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I., called the news positive and that “dose matters with this drug.”
“Continued exposure to high doses benefited patients with early Alzheimer’s disease,” Salloway said.
Also at the conference, Dr. James Kupiec, Chief Medical Officer of ProMIS Neurosciences, said the Biogen presentation was “clearly positive.”
“This is not the best drug for Alzheimer’s that will ever be approved,” he said. “It will be the first drug that is approved.”
In a video interview with Being Patient, Dr. Sharon Cohen, Medical Director and Principal Investigator at the Toronto Memory Program, defended aducanumab against skeptics who continue to believe that Biogen has not yet provided enough data to win regulatory approval for the drug.
As a clinician who works with patients, Cohen said, she found the Biogen presentation “exhilarating” because of what the study found in terms of people’s ability to continue the activities of daily living, and maintain independence for longer, with the disease.
“People still being able to work, shop, travel,” Cohen said. “This matters a lot more to our patients than a score they get on a memory test.”
My wife has dementia. We would really like to get her on this drug. She is not early stage but is still functioning. We feel waiting 100 weeks to start is not a good thing as the disease is progressing. Is there anywsy we can get into a trail.
What about Canada? Is the Biogen trial resuming here? We saw such progress in my husband while receiving aducanamaub and decline since the study ended! We are anxious to start again!
Live in London is there a chance is the trial going here my husband is 75 and functional need to start
Thanks waiting for reply Sam ghazal
Hello Emma, this is a statement from Biogen, “This study will be offered to eligible patients who were actively enrolled in any of the aducanumab studies in March 2019 (Phase 3 studies, Phase 1b PRIME, and EVOLVE safety study)”. This means new enrollment in the Aducanumab study is closed. There are many other Alzheimer’s clinical trials available however. ~ Thank you.
My husband is not in the early stages, but is there a chance he will be able to try this trial drug? It seems he is failing fast.
Everybody who wants to try this drug should be allowed too. My husband has this awful disease also and would be willing to try anything.
I have early all to continue in life functions is a big deal. keep offering memory and functioning meds.
Two years to wait will be too late for my husband
How can he join a trial?
Hello Dreena, this is a statement from Biogen, “This study will be offered to eligible patients who were actively enrolled in any of the aducanumab studies in March 2019 (Phase 3 studies, Phase 1b PRIME, and EVOLVE safety study)”. This means new enrollment in the Aducanumab study is closed. There are many other Alzheimer’s clinical trials available, however. ~ Thank you.
My husband is in moderate to severe dementia. We live in rural Alberta and have never had an opportunity to become part of a clinical trial. My point for all Dementia/Alzheimer’s patients is “What do they have to lose?” At this point thee is no cure, period. The condition only gets worse. Very sad to watch.
My husband was diagnosed 4 years ago and he is still at a mild level. We have tried for 3 years to get him in this study for Aducanumab. Please consider adding him if any of the original participants had to drop out!
We are waiting patiently for my husband to restart this drug, he was enrolled in the trial and was doing well. We feel he has deteriorated slightly since the trial stopped.
If this drug can help people with Alzehimer’s, then DON’T limit it only to those who previously were involved in the trial. Open it up to any trial facility to help anyone who has this horrible disease. PLEASE What matter does it make if you don’t.
I would like my wife to be a particpant when the trials move ot Europe and the UK in particular.
How do I get her interst inbeing part of the trail registered?
By now the safety concerns have been addressed. As the previous writers said, “what have you got to lose” by letting people participate in the study? People need some hope, some possibility rather than just resigning themselves to a slow death.
I currently have MCI. I would like to be considered for your drug trial.
Please advise.
Hello Bonnie, this is a statement from Biogen, “This study will be offered to eligible patients who were actively enrolled in any of the aducanumab studies in March 2019 (Phase 3 studies, Phase 1b PRIME, and EVOLVE safety study)”. This means new enrollment in the Aducanumab study is closed. There are many other Alzheimer’s clinical trials available, however. ~ Thank you.
Please, please, I’m begging you to let my husband try this drug. He is failing fast. We need to try anything.
Hello Loraine, this is a statement from Biogen, “This study will be offered to eligible patients who were actively enrolled in any of the aducanumab studies in March 2019 (Phase 3 studies, Phase 1b PRIME, and EVOLVE safety study)”. This means new enrollment in the Aducanumab study is closed. There are many other Alzheimer’s clinical trials available, however. ~ Thank you.
Hello. I need to enroll in the program to treat Alzheimer’s. Please let me know how and when I can enroll. Thanks. Tom
Boa tarde. Por favor, liberem esse medicamento, os nossos familiares queridos, precisam ter a chance de melhorarem as suas vidas. Meu marido está na fase inicial da doença. Acredito nesse medicamento.
Salete, per our comment rules, please comment in English. We’re translated for you.
Good afternoon. Please release this medicine, our dear family members, you need to have a chance to improve your lives. My husband is in the early stages of the disease. I believe in this medicine.
My husband was in the study in BC Canada and we saw the progression of disease dramatically slow. please let us know when the study will resume in Canadian sites.
My husband, age 65, just diagnosed with moderate Lewy Body Dementia. Please please offer this to any person with diagnosis, no matter how mild or severe!!! If it is a chance of improvement or even stability- they all deserve this chance!!!
Would like to start this medicine for my husband who has early onset dementia.
Where and how can we get it?