When the US Food and Drug Administration approved Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab in June 2021 — against the advice of its own expert committee — it triggered much hand-wringing in the research and medical community.
One group of Australian experts likened the drugmaker’s approval by the FDA to “winning a Texas sharpshooter contest by drawing a bullseye around a bullet hole”. The drug mopped up a protein associated with the disease but didn’t appear to improve symptoms.
More than a year later, the discussion has shifted from what has at times been a nonsensical debate on the different theories of what causes Alzheimer’s to other issues such as who should be included in clinical trials, when to intervene and what outcomes should be measured.
