Senate finance committee members Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are pushing to have a hearing to discuss the Medicare coverage of Aduhelm (aducanumab), Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s treatment, which recently won FDA approval.
In a letter addressed to Senate Finance chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and ranking member Mike Crapo (R-ID), Warren and Cassidy express concern that the drug could cost Medicare $37 billion to $90 billion annually. “This level of potential new spending, particularly for just one product with limited evidence of clinical efficacy thus far, tests the program’s resiliency,” they wrote.
The letter also recommends that Medicare consider limiting the use of the drug to patients most likely to benefit from it. The clinical trials for aducanumab focused on Alzheimer’s patients with mild cognitive impairment.
Biogen has yet to provide rig…