Anti-Amyloid Drugs in Alzheimer’s: Breakthrough, Dead End, or Reimbursement Reality Check?
The last few months, and indeed weeks, have seen a sharp change in attitudes towards the anti-amyloid drugs in Alzheimer’s Disease. This is an important shift because these drugs are the only approved treatments that aim to target the underlying pathology of the disease; all other approved treatments address its symptoms only. Several HTA and reimbursement bodies have recently taken negative views on these drugs, including NICE in England, HAS in France, G-BA in Germany and ZIN in the Netherlands. Perhaps most strikingly, a recent Cochrane review published this month, concluded that anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies provide little or no clinically meaningful benefit in patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to AD, while increasing the risk of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA). Cochrane reviews are usually regarded as highly influential evidence syntheses. Therefore, this sends a powerful signal to clinicians, payers, investors and drug devel...
