What comes next after Biogen’s big Alzheimer’s drug failure?

In a blow to the Alzheimer’s field, Biogen and its partner Eisai announced yesterday that they were halting two late-stage trials of their drug aducanumab because it was unlikely to prove effective. And the news could mean it’s finally time to turn away from the idea that targeting amyloid plaques may hold the therapeutic key. Other strategies — including that viruses and other pathogens may be driving disease — may now take the spotlight, but the way forward is still murky. “We are still struggling to understand the basic biology of the brain as well as the basic biology of Alzheimer’s,” Heather Snyder, the senior director of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer’s Association, tells STAT’s Sharon Begley. Read more.