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Aducanumab: First Approval

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A Correction to this article was published on 15 September 2021

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Abstract

Aducanumab (aducanumab-avwa; Aduhelm™) is a human, immunoglobulin gamma 1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibody directed against aggregated soluble and insoluble forms of amyloid β. It has been co-developed by Biogen and Eisai under license from Neurimmune for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In June 2021, aducanumab received its first approval in the USA for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. According to the US FDA prescribing information, treatment should be initiated in patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia stage of disease, the population in which treatment was initiated in clinical trials. There are no safety or effectiveness data on initiating treatment at earlier or later stages of the disease than were studied. Aducanumab is under regulatory review in Japan and in Europe. Its long-term safety and tolerability is being evaluated in a multinational phase 3b clinical study in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease). This article summarizes the milestones in the development of aducanumab leading to this first approval for Alzheimer’s disease.

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  1. Springer Nature, Private Bag 65901, Mairangi Bay, Auckland, 0754, New Zealand

    Sohita Dhillon

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  1. Sohita Dhillon
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Correspondence to Sohita Dhillon.

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The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Authorship and conflict of interest

During the peer review process Biogen, the manufacturer of the agent under review, was offered an opportunity to comment on the article. Changes resulting from any comments received were made by the authors on the basis of scientific completeness and accuracy. Sohita Dhillon is a contracted employee of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature and declares no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to the review and are responsible for the article content.

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The original article has been updated: Due to ESM update.

This profile has been extracted and modified from the AdisInsight database. AdisInsight tracks drug development worldwide through the entire development process, from discovery, through pre-clinical and clinical studies to market launch and beyond.

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Dhillon, S. Aducanumab: First Approval. Drugs 81, 1437–1443 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-021-01569-z

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