Drugs Xagena
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has approved Aduhelm ( Aducanumab ) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, a debilitating disease affecting 6.2 million Americans.
Aduhelm was approved using the accelerated approval pathway, which can be used for a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness that provides a meaningful therapeutic advantage over existing treatments.
Accelerated approval can be based on the drug’s effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit to patients, with a required post-approval trial to verify that the drug provides the expected clinical benefit.
Alzheimer’s is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually, the ability to carry out simple tasks.
While the specific causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not fully known, it is characterized by changes in the brain, including amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary, or tau, tangles, that result in loss of neurons and their connections. These changes affect a person’s ability to remember and think.
Aduhelm represents a first-of-its-kind treatment approved for Alzheimer’s disease. It is the first new treatment approved for Alzheimer’s since 2003 and is the first therapy that targets the fundamental pathophysiology of the disease.
Researchers have evaluated Aduhelm’s efficacy in three separate studies representing a total of 3,482 patients.
The studies consisted of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled dose-ranging studies in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Patients receiving the treatment had significant dose-and time-dependent reduction of amyloid beta plaque, while patients in the control arm of the studies had no reduction of amyloid beta plaque.
These results have supported the accelerated approval of Aduhelm, which is based on the surrogate endpoint of reduction of amyloid beta plaque in the brain( a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease ).
Amyloid beta plaque was quantified using positron emission tomography ( PET ) imaging to estimate the brain levels of amyloid beta plaque in a composite of brain regions expected to be widely affected by Alzheimer’s disease pathology compared to a brain region expected to be spared of such pathology.
The prescribing information for Aduhelm includes a warning for amyloid-related imaging abnormalities ( ARIA ), which most commonly presents as temporary swelling in areas of the brain that usually resolves over time and does not cause symptoms, though some people may have symptoms such as headache, confusion, dizziness, vision changes, or nausea.
Another warning for Aduhelm is for a risk of hypersensitivity reactions, including angioedema and urticaria.
The most common side effects of Aduhelm were ARIA, headache, fall, diarrhea, and confusion / delirium / altered mental status / disorientation.
Under the accelerated approval provisions, which provide patients suffering from the disease earlier access to the treatment, the FDA has required the company, Biogen, to conduct a new randomized, controlled clinical trial to verify the drug’s clinical benefit. If the trial fails to verify clinical benefit, the FDA may initiate proceedings to withdraw approval of the drug. ( Xagena )
Source: FDA, 2021
XagenaMedicine_2021
