By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) slipped by 1% in Monday’s premarket trading on a report that House lawmakers may investigate the manner in which approval was given to its Alzheimer’s drug, as well as the price that it is charging the consumers.
Biogen’s aduhelm became the first drug in 18 years to secure the Food and Drug Administration’s nod for treating the neurodegenerative disease, which has loomed ever larger on health systems around the world as populations have aged.
The drug, which has a list price of $56,000 per year, was approved as the first treatment to attack a likely cause of Alzheimer's on June 7.
At $56,000 a year, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that Medicare could spend $57 billion or more per year on Aduhelm, which is more than Medicare Part B spends on all other drugs combined, the House Committee said, according to Reuters.
The FDA approved the drug - despite strong objections from its own expert advisory panel - for all patients with Alzheimer's, although it has only been tested for patients in the early stages of the disease.
Three of the 11 members of FDA's independent advisory panel have resigned in protest over the agency's decision.