A drug pricing watchdog has concluded that the newly approved Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab — brand name Aduhelm — has no clinical benefit when compared to the current standard of care.
On July 15, a group of advisers to the nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review met to discuss what it called the “mismatch” between drugmaker Biogen’s $56,000 price tag for Aduhelm and estimates of its value, along with questions about payer coverage and research concerns.
The advisers — medical experts — voted 15 to 0 that there is no evidence that Aduhelm offers a clinical benefit to patients. Based on weak evidence of efficacy, the drug’s worth is $8,400, they said, according to a report by technological news outlet Ars Technica.
Biogen, meanwhile, protested the group’s conclusions, saying that testing and use of the drug requires “innovative thinking,” the news outlet reported.
“We regret that the ICER assessment missed the mark on this,” Biogen’s chief medical officer said in response to the vote and the ICER advisers’ comments.
A major long-term care industry advocate has opted to recommend against using Aduhelm in the long-term care population, and some hospital systems have said they will not administer the drug. An expert panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration in November voted against FDA approval, and three of its members resigned in protest when it was approved in early June.
