Inside STAT: How a celebrated drug hunter went after Alzheimer’s and lost

AL SANDROCK, BIOGEN'S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER. (KAYANA SZYMCZAK FOR STAT)

In March, Biogen announced that it would be discontinuing trials of its blockbuster Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab, joining 86 other drug projects over the past 10 years to unsuccessfully provide a solution to the debilitating neurodegenerative disease. But the story behind the drug — and its failure — starts with Al Sandrock, Biogen’s chief medical officer. In an exclusive new story, STAT’s Matthew Herper describes how Sandrock has a knack for spotting successful new drugs, from two drugs for MS to a revolutionary drug for spinal muscular atrophy. Aducanumab would have been the next feather in Sandrock’s cap. Despite others’ failures at anti-amyloid drugs, Sandrock and Biogen were confident — until a text message earlier this year also sealed the fate of this drug. STAT Plus subscribers can read more here.