The US Approves New Alzheimer's Drug

Ever since Alzheimer’s disease was first described in 1906, scientists have searched endlessly for a cure. Now, more than a century later, doctors have an effective drug to treat this disorder.

The new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease was approved by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) on June 7. This marks an important step in medicine as it is the first new treatment in two decades for this cognitive condition. Although this has been long-awaited by millions, some brain experts oppose the new drug as they doubt its effectiveness.

The drug, called Aducanumab, was developed by Biogen, which is a U.S-based biotech company, and the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai. Even though their drug has been approved, the FDA asked for more evidence of its effectiveness. Therefore, Biogen must conduct a placebo-controlled study to show it improves people’s memory and cognitive symptoms.

After failed and unfinished clinical trials, this drug has split opinions among the scientific community. While some, including the Alzheimer’s Association, support it and believe it is useful, others do not think that the benefits outweigh the risks.

How can this drug be used to battle the disease? Amyloid is a protein that forms clumps in the brains affected by Alzheimer’s. This can lead to the damaging of cells and trigger dementia. Aducanumab targets this protein to prevent the lumps from forming and hurting the brain. According to the FDA, there was “substantial evidence that Aducanumab reduces amyloid-beta plaques in the brain” and that this “is reasonably likely to predict important benefits to patients”.

Aducanumab is not a miracle, nor is it a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. However, it will be of great help when tackling the condition. As it is the first treatment that deals with the brain’s mechanism that destroys neurons, this drug is an important milestone towards curing this disease once and for all.

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