Aduhelm not seen as effective enough for Department of Veterans Affairs' national formulary

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has snubbed Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Eisai’s (TYO: 4523) Aduhelm (aducanumab-avwa) by excluding it from its national formulary.

A Medical advisory panel for the VA Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM) Services has recommended against offering the therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, despite its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June of this year.

"Lack of evidence of a robust and meaningful clinical benefit"A document on the panel’s review of Aduhelm explains: “While VA PBM acknowledges the recent FDA decision on aducanumab-avwa, given the lack of evidence of a robust and meaningful clinical benefit and the known safety signal, we recommend against offering this agent to patients with Alzheimer’s dementia (mild or otherwise) or mild cognitive impairment.