“Alzheimer’s patients can’t wait”: That’s the tagline of an unusual new campaign from UsAgainstAlzheimer’s as the group looks to ramp up the pressure for Medicare to cover Biogen’s controversial new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm.
In a direct move, USAgainstAlzheimer's, one of the largest U.S.-based groups representing patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), has launched a new campaign comprising television and digital ads that feature patients and caregivers calling on Medicare to cover Alzheimer’s treatments.
The issue at hand comes from a draft decision, made Jan. 11, from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In its current form, the guidance restricts reimbursement for Aduhelm to Medicare patients enrolled in approved clinical trials only.
This also would extend to other currently experimental drugs, which work in the same way as Aduhlem, namely: Eli Lilly’s donanemab, Roche’s gantenerumab and Biogen’s follow-up mAb, lecanemab, which is in development with Eisai.
As is, the CMS’ decision would severely restrict the market for these drugs because older people covered by Medicare make up the bulk of the Alzheimer’s patient population, and restrictive access for them would be a serious blow to Aduhelm’s market potential, which had been pegged by analysts at Evaluate as reaching $4.9 billion at peak, as well as for donanemab gantenerumab and lecanemab, all of which are in the later stages of testing.
For USAgainstAlzheimer's, this is robbing AD patients of an entire class of drugs, and specifically stopping them from accessing the approved medicine Aduhelm. A final decision from the CMS is expected on April 11 and the patient group is going all out to try and change the guidance.
The group’s ad campaign highlights the irreversible damage that can affect those living with Alzheimer’s and their families. The first of a series of ads features an Alzheimer’s patient who lost both his mother and aunt to the disease, and he says the CMS’ decision is simply “wrong,” with the ad saying: “Medicare: Don’t deny FDA-approved treatments for Alzheimer’s.”
The TV ads are highly localized and will air on broadcast and cable in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, and be featured on “high-traffic national news websites,” the group said in a statement.
Speaking to Reuters, George Vradenburg, co-founder and chairman of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, said his group is “spending millions on the campaign,” which will also include social media and print ads on bus stops in the Washington area. Many tap the tagline “Alzheimer's patients can't wait.”
It’s not the only group trying to get its voice heard: The Alliance for Aging Research is taking another route, organizing a protest this week across the street from HHS headquarters in Washington as it enlists AD patients and their families to call on Medicare to re-think its plan.
The Alliance said in an accompanying statement that: “If finalized, the [CMS] decision will set a dangerous precedent for rationing Medicare beneficiaries’ access to current and future FDA-approved Alzheimer’s drugs, as well as treatments for other serious and life-threatening conditions approved under the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway.”
“There are six million Americans living with Alzheimer’s,” Vradenburg said in a statement. “Our campaign centers on making sure CMS decision-makers remember that these aren’t just numbers, these are people. So, our campaign will elevate the voices of Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers in a way any reasonable person at CMS can’t ignore.”
UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has gone to bat for Biogen before, urging the FDA to approve the drug, then known as aducanumab, in February last year.
Before Aduhelm's approval, in November 2020, a group of FDA experts recommended against approval of the drug, arguing it could not see it as an efficacious therapy for the disease. But in June 2021, the FDA in an unusual move went against its AdComm, giving the green light to the drug.
On the market, Aduhelm has however struggled massively, having possibly one of the worst launches in history, making only $3 million last year as it fails to find favor with neurologists. Biogen eventually cut the drug's price tag in half from $56,000 a year to try and spur sales.
Check out UsAgainstAlzheimer's new ad, launched over the weekend, below.