FDA Approves First New Alzheimer's Drug In Two Decades...

U.S. health regulators approved the first new Alzheimer’s drug in nearly two decades, casting aside doubts about the therapy’s effectiveness.

The approval Monday of the therapy, which has the molecular name aducanumab and will be sold as Aduhelm, marked a watershed in Alzheimer’s drug research after billions of dollars in investment. Maker Biogen Inc. developed the therapy to do what previously approved Alzheimer’s medicines can’t: slow the memory-robbing march of the disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, explaining its decision, said scientific evidence indicated Aduhelm reduces a sticky substance in the brain called amyloid—which is associated with Alzheimer’s—and is likely to produce a benefit to patients.