Opinion: Alzheimer’s drug approvals show we need a reevaluation of patient advocacy
The current state of patient advocacy needs reform so that the best, safest drugs come to market, writes Jon Hu of Pepper Bio.
When faced with a loved one’s progressive neurodegenerative disease, like Alzheimer’s, or your child’s rare respiratory disease, you question why researchers and resource-backed pharma cannot bring a drug to market quickly enough to help your loved ones. Many people faced with this horror get involved to fight for better treatments.
The voices of patients and loved ones may have influenced the FDA’s decision to grant expedited approval to two Alzheimer’s drugs, lecanemab and aducanumab. Though aducanumab failed its clinical trials, patient advocacy groups spent significant resources writing letters, working with celebrities, and speaking at advisory committee sessions, aiming to convince the FDA to approve the drug, which it ultimately did.
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