New Drug to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

There are more than 6 million Americans that are living with Alzheimer’s disease and the U.S Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease since 2003. 

What is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a common type of dementia that is irreversible. It is a disease that begins with mild memory loss and waning thinking skills which can develop into a worse condition where an individual would have trouble keeping up with a conversation or performing simple daily tasks. The signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease may appear a decade or more after changes to the brain have already begun. One of the suspected root causes of this disease is the buildup of sticky proteins that form plaques in the brain. This causes irreparable damage and shrinkage first in parts of the brain that are important in memory formation and later spreads to different parts of the brain. While there is no cure for this degenerative disease, there are currently only medications that can manage the symptoms. 

What is Aducanumab (aduhelm)?

Aduhelm was approved by the FDA, in June 2021, under the “accelerated approval” pathway to treat all stages of Alzheimer’s disease. This approved pathway allows those who have a serious condition or a life-threatening illness such as Alzheimer’s disease to be treated with Aduhelm without proof of a clinical benefit because the drug has shown to be important in changing a key process in the progression of the disease. The drug was approved because of initial results that showed a reduction of amyloid beta plaque in the brain. A next set of clinical trials will be conducted by the biotechnology company, Biogen, to gather further evidence and verification of a clinical benefit. The clinical benefit that will be measured is the reduction of amyloid beta plaque buildup which can help slow the progression of the disease. 

Current known side effects of Aduhelm include temporary brain swelling, headaches, falls, confusion, and disorientation. The FDA will continue to monitor Aduhelm and its effects and if there proves to be no evidence of a clinical benefit the drug’s approval could be withdrawn and removed from the market. 

More information on FDA approved treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

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By: Anissa Pizano 

Senior Care Advising Intern at WellPath Partners

Health Science Student at California State University Long Beach