Healthcare Policy Experts Urge CMS to Quickly Move on Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Biogen’s aducanumab drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Several health policy experts are calling for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to determine, rapidly, if the drug will be covered nationally. The pricy drug could face an efficacy requirement, with the drug possibly being pulled from the market if it does not demonstrate sufficiently improved outcomes.

The policy experts remark, “CMS should preemptively generate an internal request for an NCD regarding aducanumab to best protect Medicare beneficiaries from receiving a therapy where the risks likely outweigh the benefits,” adding, “Given the public attention to aducanumab and the proportion of Medicare beneficiaries who could be eligible for treatment, a clear, evidence-based policy would protect beneficiaries and taxpayers and avoid differential policies across the nation when aducanumab launches,” further adding, “CMS has a clear path to limit aducanumab usage to only the most appropriate cases, and, should aducanumab be approved, it should not hesitate to use this authority.” Read more here.

(Source: Paige Minemyer, Fierce Healthcare, 6/7/21)