Biogen Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm is the first new treatment for dementia approved by the FDA in decades, and it's started a war over the brain drug pipeline.
Several experts told CNBC the Biogen drug's unique threshold for regulatory approval, with treatment potential seeming to trump uncertain real-world benefits, could reinvigorate efforts by competitors like Lilly, who are focused on developing drugs that rely on relatively similar techniques.
There is extensive evidence suggesting that these beta amyloid formations, also known as "pathological aggregates" or "plaques," are a major driver of Alzheimer's disease, though the exact causal mechanisms are still not fully understood, according to Christian Pike of USC's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
"If you say 'Well hey, the FDA is buying into this general concept,'" said Pike in a phone call, "if we can remove beta amyloid from the brains of persons that are affected by the disease, even with limited evidence of cognitive benefits," he continued, "there might be a variety of different therapies that would qualify under these types of criteria."
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