Alzheimer’s is a complex and frustrating disease that robs people of their memories and families of their loved ones.
Alliance for Aging Research’s Statement on FDA Decision to Approve Alzheimer’s Treatment
Published June 7, 2021
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2021 – Alliance for Aging Research President and CEO Sue Peschin, MHS, released the following statement in response to the FDA’s decision to approve aducanumab for the treatment of early dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease:
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to approve aducanumab for the treatment of early dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) provides a much-needed signal of hope for the millions of families who live with the disease. The failure rate for therapies in the AD clinical pipeline is a staggering 98.5 percent; however, today’s action is finally a step in a positive direction. Unfortunately, before the FDA had even had the opportunity to issue today’s decision on approval, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) had already crafted its opinion on the drug’s effectiveness and how much it should cost. ICER’s methodology for determining an AD treatment’s economic value has been called out as arbitrary as well as discriminatory against groups that are sicker, older, people with disabilities, and communities of color—all groups who disproportionately experience AD. Health coverage for Alzheimer’s disease treatment and care is a necessity and not an optional luxury like a sports car. The value of this new therapy will impact not only the future course of medical spending but also the significant burden of the disease on family caregivers and society, which ICER is unwilling to grasp.
The Alliance for Aging Research does not advocate on behalf of specific medical products (drug, therapy, device, etc.), but for our society’s ability to accelerate the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health.
About the Alliance for Aging Research
The Alliance for Aging Research is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. The Alliance believes advances in research help people live longer, happier, more productive lives and reduce healthcare costs over the long term. For more than 30 years, the Alliance has guided efforts to substantially increase funding and focus for aging at the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration; built influential coalitions to guide groundbreaking regulatory improvements for age-related diseases; and created award-winning, high-impact educational materials to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their family caregivers. For more information, visit www.agingresearch.org
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