Astral Codex Ten

Biogen

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Biogen

Article

Biogen is a recurring organization in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 4 times across 4 issues between August 20, 2021 and August 14, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “biogen-eisai-scrap-alzheimer-drug-trials”; “aducanumab, an anti-amyloid antibody developed by Biogen”; ""Biogen had 2 trials to find that group and failed to do so"". It most often appears alongside aducanumab, FDA, aducanumab.

Metadata

  • Category: Organizations
  • Mention count: 4
  • Issue count: 4
  • First seen: August 20, 2021
  • Last seen: August 14, 2025

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Highlights From The Comments On Aducanumab
August 20, 2021 · Original source
- The trial was halted for futility: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-biogen-alzheimers/biogen-eisai-scrap-alzheimer-drug-trials-idUSKCN1R213G
Inline links: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-biogen-alzheimers/biogen-eisai-scrap-alzheimer-drug-trials-idUSKCN1R213G
Yesterday the FDA approved aducanumab, an anti-amyloid antibody developed by Biogen, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. This was based on post hoc interpretation of clinical trials that were stopped early due to futility, and against the strong recommendation of the FDA’s own advisory committee. Aducanumab will be priced at $56,000 per patient per year. Since Alzheimer’s patients are usually covered by Medicare, this cost will be paid by the American public. I estimate that it could be over $100 billion per year.1 This is excluding indirect costs, such as those of monitoring for brain swelling that is a known effect of this drug.
Inline links: 1
This approval will mean (a) Biogen, previously on the cusp of failure, now have a lifeline to investigate which kinds of patients the drug is good for, (b) it is released into the market, which means we will soon be getting efficacy data in big numbers, combined with genetic data.
When Will The FDA Approve Paxlovid?
November 23, 2021 · Original source
(big pharma companies do often try to sneak mediocre drugs past the FDA, but that doesn’t look like falsely claiming 90% mortality reductions. It looks like aducamumab: a drug whose early trials showed mediocre results on secondary endpoints, but which Biogen somehow got the FDA to approve anyway)
Inline links: looks like aducamumab
Your Review: Of Mice, Mechanisms, and Dementia
July 11, 2025 · Original source
However, cracks are showing in this façade. In 2021, the FDA granted accelerated approval to aducanumab (Aduhelm), an anti-amyloid drug developed by Biogen, despite scant evidence that it meaningfully altered the course of cognitive decline. The decision to approve, made over near-unanimous opposition from the agency’s advisory panel, exposed growing tensions between regulatory optimism and scientific rigor. Medicare’s subsequent decision to restrict coverage to clinical trials, and Biogen’s quiet withdrawal of the drug from broader marketing efforts in 2024, made the disconnect impossible to ignore.
Inline links: the FDA granted accelerated approval, made over near-unanimous opposition, Biogen’s quiet withdrawal
In Defense Of The Amyloid Hypothesis
August 14, 2025 · Original source
Anti-amyloid drugs (like Aduhelm) don't reverse the disease, and only slow progression a relatively small amount.
Inline links: Aduhelm
But biology is messy, and we need to have comfort with complexity. Yes, there’s evidence that tau is responsible for the neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease; no, this doesn’t contradict the amyloid hypothesis. Yes, Biogen screwed up in conducting the aducanumab phase 3 trials and this made the results harder to interpret; no, that doesn’t mean amyloid therapies have completely failed. Yes, it’s taken way too long to get even to this intermediate point of 30% efficacy, due to a combination of overregulation and biology just being damned hard; no, that doesn’t mean we’re on the wrong track with the underlying science.