Biogen Alzheimer’s Drug to Get Medicare Look at Effectiveness

The Biden administration is undertaking an analysis of Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug to determine whether it needs a national coverage policy under Medicare.

It’s the first indication from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that the drug will be scrutinized. Medicare is expected to bear the bulk of the cost of the drug’s use in patients.

The Food and Drug Administration approved aducanumab last month, sparking outcry in the medical community that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to show the drug worked.

The FDA gave accelerated approval to aducanumab, which has a brand name of Aduhelm. It’s a monoclonal antibody ...