Biogen's Alzheimer's drug slows mental decline in early study

An experimental drug from Biogen Idec became the first Alzheimer’s treatment to significantly slow cognitive decline and reduce what is believed to be brain-destroying plaque in patients with early and mild forms of the disease, according to a small study likely to reignite hopes of a treatment. Biogen is entering a field littered with expensive failures from such players as Pfizer Inc and Eli Lilly and Co. The 166-patient trial of the Biogen drug, aducanumab, tested four groups who each received a different dose against a fifth group who received a placebo. The plaque reduction was more pronounced as the dose of the drug increased and over time. It marks the first time an experimental drug demonstrated both a statistically significant reduction in amyloid plaque and a slowing of clinical impairment in patients with mild disease, said Alfred Sandrock, Biogen’s chief medical officer.

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