PROVIDENCE – A Rhode Island doctor was among a group of leading Alzheimer’s disease experts who presented detailed guidance last week on the use of a new Alzheimer’s treatment.
Dr. Stephen Salloway of Butler Hospital helped formulate recommendations aimed at physicians on the use of Biogen’s Aduhelm, an Alzheimer’s treatment that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June.
The drug, intended as a treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease, has already been the subject of some controversy as doctors try to figure out which patients the treatment would be most appropriate for. Aduhelm, or aducanumab, targets specific plaque buildups in the brain that medical experts say are an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease.
Salloway, who is director of neurology and the Memory and Aging Program at Butler, also co-authored a corresponding article that was published in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease and in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of The Alzheimer’s Association.
The article can be found at alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
Salloway and five other panelists presented the recommendations at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Las Vegas.
The group laid out a checklist of 11 factors that should be taken into consideration before prescribing Aduhelm.
“Our goal is to guide clinicians on the selection of patients most likely to benefit from treatment with recommendations on how to carefully monitor for safety,” Salloway said. “The evidence we have is that patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia with confirmed amyloid buildup are most likely to benefit and we will need close collaboration between primary care and specialty providers to identify these patients.”
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.