BOCA RATON, Fla. – For the first time in nearly two decades the Food and Drug Administration this week gave the green light to a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
The approval for Aduhelm comes after a large study showed infusions of the drug could clear amyloid proteins from the brain, the plaques that are a key hallmark of the disease.
“It engaged secondary components of the changes in the brain, the tangles that are the other main changes in the brain and a marker that suggests neuronal injury, cell injury,” said Dr. James Galvin, a neurologist with the University of Miami Health System and Director of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health.
Galvin said the drug would be administered via infusion once every few weeks.
An FDA advisory panel had recommended against the drug’s approval, citing a large study that showed no benefit.
Galvin said the FDA took into consideration a separate large scale, and smaller study, which did show benefit in the right patient population and at the maximum recommended dose.
The drug would be given by infusion every few weeks for patients with early stage Alzheimer’s.
Also in today’s health news, a genetic link has been discovered in some people who catch COVID-19 but don’t get sick.
The gene is found three times as often in people who are asymptomatic, meaning they don’t show signs of illness.
This is the first clear evidence of genetic resistance to COVID-19.