Failed Alzheimer’s drug may be effective after all, drug maker says

Enlarge / The exterior of the headquarters of biotechnology company Biogen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (credit: Getty | Boston Globe)

An experimental treatment for Alzheimer's disease is headed to the Food and Drug Administration for approval—despite the fact that it flunked a "futility analysis" and was abandoned by its maker just months ago.

In March, biotech company Biogen halted two Phase III clinical trials of the antibody drug aducanumab after the analysis of preliminary data suggested it was destined for failure. The decision to ditch the closely watched drug sent Biogen's future and stock into a tailspin. Shares fell more than 25% the day of the announcement, slashing about $18 billion from the company's market value, according to Bloomberg at the time.

But that March decision was based on data collected only through December 2018. Additional data from those intervening months kept rolling in—and it told a different story, according to Biogen.

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