jueves, 6 de junio de 2019

What it was like inside Biogen when aducanumab failed

The Readout
Damian Garde

What it was like inside Biogen when aducanumab failed

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AL SANDROCK, BIOGEN'S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER. (KAYANA SZYMCZAK/STAT)
Al Sandrock is, to say the least, an accomplished drug hunter. As chief medical officer at Biogen, he identified three drugs that now account for 70% of Biogen’s $10.8 billion in annual sales.

But one Sandrock project, a once-promising treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, was a devastating failure. In March, Sandrock got called into a conference room where his colleagues informed him that patients were not responding to aducanumab, in which Biogen had invested ample time and money.

“As soon as I walked in and I saw their faces I knew it wasn’t good,” Sandrock told STAT’s Matthew Herper. “... This was a very sad moment, very grave.”

But to understand why there was so much anticipation about aducanumab — and such disappointment with its failure — you need to understand the magnitude of Sandrock’s success. Read more.

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