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Consensus Statement Regarding the Application of Biogen to Health Canada for Approval of Aducanumab

Authors: Chertkow HRockwood KHogan DBPhillips NMontero-Odasso MAmanullah SBlack SBocti CBorrie MFeldman HFreedman MHsiung RKirk AMasellis MNygaard HRajji TVerret L


Affiliations

1 Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, ON.
2 Kimel Centre for Brain Health and Baycrest Clinical Trials Unit, Toronto, ON.
3 Dept. of Medicine, University of Toronto.
4 Dept. of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC.
5 Frailty/Elder Care Network, Nova Scotia Health, Halifax, NS.
6 Dept. of Geriatric Medicine and Neurology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
7 Division of Geriatric Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
8 Brenda Strafford Centre on Aging, O'Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
9 Dept. of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC.
10 Sensory-Cognitive Health in Aging and Dementia, Concordia University, Montreal, QC.
11 Depts. of Medicine, Epidemiology and

Description

Alzheimer's disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Currently, there are no disease-modifying pharmacotherapies for this condition. Aducanumab, an amyloid beta-directed monoclonal antibody that targets aggregated forms of amyloid-beta in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, has raised hopes that such a therapy has been discovered, but its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration has engendered a good deal of controversy. A similar application for approval has been submitted to Health Canada. In response to this, a group of Canadian clinical dementia experts representing a number of organizations, including the Canadian Geriatrics Society, was convened by the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) to discuss the evidence currently available on this agent and seek consensus on what advice they would offer Health Canada on the application. There was wide-spread agreement that it would be premature for aducanumab to receive approval for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. It was also noted that the Canadian health-care system is poorly prepared at this time to deal with a disease-modifying therapeutic with targeting, administration, and monitoring characteristics like aducanumab. In this paper, the consensus reached is presented along with its underlying rationale.


Keywords: Alzheimer's diseaseaducanumabdrug therapy


Links

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34912492/

DOI: 10.5770/cgj.24.570