Make what you will of these Biogen data

Biogen, with the ear of an entire industry, finally presented the details behind its plot to turn a once-abandoned molecule into an approved treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. But the data aren’t likely to change an already polarized conversation.

As STAT’s Rebecca Robbins and Matthew Herper report, Biogen’s longform case for the drug, called aducanumab, relies on buying into the company’s explanation of how two identically designed trials came up with opposing results. The company reeled through dozens of complicated slides to explain its position, which hinges on the belief that patients who got the highest dose for the longest amount of time experienced a real benefit.

But the reaction has largely split along party lines. Experts and analysts who were swayed by Biogen’s earlier aducanumab claims saw the data as a validation of the drug’s promise, while those on the skeptical side called the presentation problematic.

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