Tech

Ever forget stuff? You may have Alzheimer’s, says maker of $56K Alzheimer’s drug

Enlarge / The exterior of the headquarters of biotechnology company Biogen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (credit: Getty | Boston Globe) Do you ever forget things, like a doctor’s appointment or a lunch date? Do you sometimes struggle to think of the right word for something common? Do you ever feel more anxious or irritable than you […]

Tech

Expert panel says new $56K Alzheimer’s drug is unproven—and worth $8,400 max

Enlarge / The exterior of the headquarters of biotechnology company Biogen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (credit: Getty | Boston Globe) Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm continues to face opposition after its contentious approval from the Food and Drug Administration last month—which the FDA now says should be independently investigated. Some insurers say they won’t pay for […]

Tech

Amid firestorm of criticism, FDA narrows use of $56, 000 Alzheimer’s drug

Enlarge / The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland. (credit: Getty | Congressional Quarterly ) Less than five weeks after granting a highly controversial approval for the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, the Food and Drug Administration has updated its recommendation for who should receive the drug. The update narrows the recommended patient pool […]

Tech

Controversial Alzheimer’s drug could cost US $334B—nearly half of DoD budget

Enlarge / Pedestrians walk past Biogen Inc. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Monday, June 7, 2021. Biogen Inc. shares soared after its controversial Alzheimer’s disease therapy was approved by US regulators. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg) Concern is mounting over the price of the controversial new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm. Advocates, lawmakers, and critics worry in particular […]

Tech

FDA officials asked to step down after contentious Alzheimer’s drug approval

Enlarge / The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland. (credit: Getty | Congressional Quarterly) A leading advocacy and watchdog group is calling for the ouster of three top officials at the Food and Drug Administration—including its acting commissioner—after the regulator issued a highly contentious approval last week of the unproven and now […]

Tech

Three experts resign as FDA advisors over approval of Alzheimer’s drug

Enlarge / The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland. (credit: Getty | Congressional Quarterly) Fallout continues from the Food and Drug Administration’s contentious decision this week to approve Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab) despite a lack of efficacy data. Three experts who sat on an advisory committee for the FDA have now […]

Business

It’s the New Year, and pharma companies are already hiking prices for popular drugs

Birthing a drug isn’t easy. It’s an intensive, unpredictable, and enormously stressful endeavor which can dash the hopes of the world’s greatest scientific minds and the patients they seek to serve. Initial clinical trial victories can quickly swerve into cataclysmic failures. But that reality, and the unique nature of the pharmaceutical industry’s life-changing mission, gets […]