Biogen angry as CMS stands by Aduhelm decision

The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has stuck by its earlier stance of restricting access to the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab).

This means that Medicare will only pay for the Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Eisai (TYO: 4523) drug – which won US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last year despite limited evidence that it works – for participants in clinical trials.

"When additional data from this new class of treatments become available, Biogen urges the CMS to reconsider"CMS has said that this stance will protect patients while data is gathered to indicate whether patients actually benefit from Aduhelm, which currently has an annual list price of $28,200 per year after being reduced from $56,000.