A group of six leading Alzheimer’s experts has convened to make the first recommendations for the appropriate use of aducanumab (Aduhelm, Biogen/Eisai), a newly approved treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease.
The recommendations will help provide clinicians with greater clarity and more specific use of the new treatment, according to one of the experts, UNLV neuroscientist Dr. Jeffrey Cummings.
“Many details of the clinical use of this new agent are not in the FDA’s prescribing information,” said Cummings. “These recommendations fill the gap between the prescribing information and the real-world implementation of this treatment.”
The recommendations will be shared during a presentation at 10 a.m. EST on July 27 during the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). Cummings will co-chair the expert panel with Chief Science Officer, Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D., of the Alzheimer’s Association. Media are invited to attend.
Simultaneously, the findings will be published in a special article in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. Media wishing to obtain an embargoed copy can contact Andrea Roa, andrea.roa@unlv.edu.
In addition to Dr. Cummings, the expert panel and article co-authors are: Paul Aisen, M.D., Alzheimer’s Treatment Research Institute, University of Southern California, San Diego, CA. Liana Apostolova, M.D., FAAN, Departments of Neurology, Radiology, Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis. IN. Alireza Atri, M.D., Ph.D., Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Banner Health, Sun City, AZ; Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Stephen Salloway, M.D., Butler Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI. Michael Weiner, M.D. Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Medicine, Psychiatry and Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
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The UNLV Department of Brain Health was launched by the School of Integrated Health Sciences (SIHS) in 2019 to advance research, education, and practice to benefit brain health and the care and treatment of people with brain disorders. The department’s faculty specialize in basic and clinical research in neurodegenerative disease, neuropsychology, and occupational therapy. The school’s Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience at UNLV operates the world’s largest Alzheimer’s clinical trials to track the Alzheimer’s drug development pipeline.
