What happened to Aduhelm in the end?
Biogen discontinued Aduhelm on January 31, 2024 — after Medicare restricted coverage to trials, major health systems refused to stock it and European regulators rejected it — redirecting resources to lecanemab developed with Eisai.
Adoption never took off. Several major health systems declined to use it, most payers held off coverage, Medicare restricted payment to trials, and the European Medicines Agency refused to authorise it. On January 31, 2024 Biogen announced it was discontinuing Aduhelm, ending trials by May 2024 and supply to existing patients by November 2024, and redirecting resources to lecanemab, developed with Eisai. The Alzheimer's Association credited Aduhelm with opening a new era of anti-amyloid treatments. Critics saw the episode as a textbook case of overpromising and under-delivering, and as evidence of the risks of approving drugs on surrogate markers without solid clinical evidence, particularly when the price and potential patient population are both very large.