Biogen Inc.
BIIB,
said Wednesday that it will halt the development and commercialization of its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, which drew intense scrutiny of its U.S. regulatory approval process due to concerns about whether its benefits outweighed its risks. The drugmaker said it will continue to advance Leqembi, the Alzheimer’s treatment granted full approval last year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and will accelerate development of other potential new treatments. The decision to discontinue Aduhelm “is not related to any safety or efficacy concerns,” Biogen said in a release, noting that it had been unable to find strategic partners or external financing for the program. The company has recorded a one-time fourth-quarter charge of about $60 million related to close-out costs for Aduhelm. Many of the resources freed up by terminating Aduhelm will be redeployed within the company’s Alzheimer’s business, Biogen said. Biogen shares gained 0.2% premarket on Wednesday and are down 4.5% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 3.3%.
