Biogen’s Investigational Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment Aducanumab Granted FDA Fast Track Designation

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) announced that aducanumab, its
investigational treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease (AD), was
granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). The FDA’s Fast Track program supports the development of new
treatments for serious conditions with an unmet medical need such as
Alzheimer’s disease.
“By collaborating with regulators through programs like Fast Track, we
hope to bring effective treatments to patients and families affected by
Alzheimer’s disease as quickly as possible,” said Alfred Sandrock, M.D.,
Ph.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer at Biogen.
Aducanumab is currently being evaluated in two global Phase 3 studies,
ENGAGE and EMERGE, which are designed to evaluate its safety and
efficacy in slowing cognitive impairment and the progression of
disability in people with early Alzheimer’s disease.
For more information about the Phase 3 studies, including information
about participating centers, visit www.ClinicalTrials.gov
(NCT02477800 or NCT02484547).
Update: Phase 1b Data
PRIME is the ongoing Phase 1b
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple-dose study
evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK),
pharmacodynamics (PD) and clinical effects of aducanumab in patients
with prodromal or mild AD.
The placebo-controlled portion of the study included fixed doses of
aducanumab at 1, 3, 6 and 10 mg/kg and a titration regimen. PRIME also
has a long-term extension for patients who completed the one-year
placebo-controlled portion of the study.
In a recently completed interim analysis from PRIME, efficacy and safety
data were consistent with results previously reported. These data
support the design of the ongoing Phase 3 ENGAGE and EMERGE studies.
Biogen plans to share detailed information about these results at
upcoming medical meetings.
About Aducanumab
Aducanumab (BIIB037) is an investigational
compound being developed for the treatment of early AD. Aducanumab is a
human recombinant monoclonal antibody (mAb) derived from a de-identified
library of B cells collected from healthy elderly subjects with no signs
of cognitive impairment or cognitively impaired elderly subjects with
unusually slow cognitive decline using Neurimmune’s technology platform
called Reverse Translational Medicine (RTM). Biogen licensed aducanumab
from Neurimmune under a collaborative development and license agreement.
Aducanumab is thought to target aggregated forms of beta amyloid
including soluble oligomers and insoluble fibrils deposited into the
amyloid plaque in the brain of AD patients. Based on pre-clinical and
interim Phase 1b data, treatment with aducanumab has been shown to
reduce amyloid plaque levels.
About Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a
progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive
decline and behavioral disturbances that eventually result in a person’s
inability to perform daily activities. In 2010, it was estimated that 25
million individuals were living with AD worldwide¹. Evidence
suggests that pathophysiological changes typically begin years prior to
the symptoms that lead to a clinical diagnosis. As the disease
progresses, cognitive impairments, behavioral changes and functional
disability commonly associated with AD begin to manifest.
About Biogen
Through cutting-edge science and medicine,
Biogen discovers, develops and delivers worldwide innovative therapies
for people living with serious neurological, autoimmune and rare
diseases. Founded in 1978, Biogen is one of the world’s oldest
independent biotechnology companies and patients worldwide benefit from
its leading multiple sclerosis and innovative hemophilia therapies. For
more information, please visit www.biogen.com.
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Biogen Safe Harbor
This press release contains
forward-looking statements, including statements about the potential
benefits of acceptance of aducanumab to the FDA’s Fast Track program,
and the potential clinical effects of aducanumab. These statements may
be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “plan,”
“potential,” “will” and similar expressions, and are based on our
current beliefs and expectations. Drug development and commercialization
involve a high degree of risk, and only a small number of research and
development programs result in commercialization of a product. Results
in early stage clinical trials may not be indicative of full results or
results from later stage or larger scale clinical trials and does not
ensure regulatory approval. Acceptance into the FDA’s Fast Track Program
does not ensure regulatory approval. Factors which could cause actual
results to differ materially from our current expectations include the
risk that we may not fully enroll our clinical trials or enrollment will
take longer than expected, unexpected concerns may arise from additional
data, analysis or results obtained during our clinical trials,
regulatory authorities may require additional information or further
studies, or may fail or refuse to approve or may delay approval of our
drug candidates, or we may encounter other unexpected hurdles. For more
detailed information on the risks and uncertainties associated with our
drug development and commercialization activities, please review the
Risk Factors section of our most recent annual or quarterly report filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release and we assume
no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
¹ World Health Organization Dementia a Public Health
Priority. https://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/dementia_report_2012/en/.
Accessed 23 May 2016.