Marwan Sabbagh, MD: Outlook of Aducanumab in Alzheimer Disease

“This is a transformative moment. We are now about to take the journey toward transforming Alzheimer disease from a terminal disease as we know it, to a chronic disease.”

Biogen’s aducanumab made news again in early August after the FDA announced that it had accepted the biologics license application (BLA) with priority review, setting a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of March 7, 2021. Aducanumab, also known as BIIB037, would become the first treatment for reducing clinical decline in Alzheimer disease (AD) through its mechanism of selectively targeting aggregated forms of amyloid-beta, including both soluble oligomers and insoluble fibrils.

Marwan Sabbagh, MD, director, Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, and neurologist, Cleveland Clinic, understands the clinical importance of such an agent and the gravity of situation if the drug is approved. As an opinion leader in AD, Sabbagh feels as though the aducanumab can breed new life the AD research field while also proving that amyloid-targeting therapies can play a major role in controlling clinical decline.

In this interview with NeurologyLive, Sabbagh shared his excitement about the potential of aducanumab in this population, as well as provided information on why he supports the research of amyloid-targeting therapies.