--- title: Biogen Halts Alzheimer's Drug Trials Due to Poor Results description: Biogen and Eisai are halting two phase-three trials testing the Alzheimer's drug aducanumab, citing disappointing results. canonical: https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-21T14:20:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:53.485Z article:section: Health og:title: Biogen Halts Promising Alzheimer's Drug Trials Due to Disappointing Results og:description: The drug is unlikely to help patients og:url: https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52f5356168493b83/6989471197cdff309e6b7869/aducanumab-alzheimers-trials.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Caring og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biogen Halts Promising Alzheimer's Drug Trials Due to Disappointing Results twitter:description: The drug is unlikely to help patients twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52f5356168493b83/6989471197cdff309e6b7869/aducanumab-alzheimers-trials.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Biogen Halts Promising Alzheimer's Drug Trials Due to Disappointing Results ## Video: Alzheimer's New Hope [Watch (HLS stream): Alzheimer's New Hope](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Dz6EZRwJ.m3u8) (6:48)  _Published 2018-02-14. TIME follows a patient as he begins a drug trial that could offer groundbreaking treatment of Alzheimer's_  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Mar 21, 2019 2:20 PM UTC  Elderly hand and caregiver Elderly hand and caregiverGetty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Mar 21, 2019 2:20 PM UTC Pharmaceutical company Biogen is halting two global phase-three trials testing the once-promising Alzheimer’s drug [aducanumab](http://time.com/5159880/please-be-the-drug/), delivering a late-stage blow to researchers searching for therapies for the [incurable degenerative disease](http://time.com/4592564/why-scientists-are-still-flummoxed-by-alzheimers/). “This disappointing news confirms the complexity of treating Alzheimer’s disease and the need to further advance knowledge in neuroscience,” Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos said in [a statement](http://newsroom.biogen.com/news-releases/news-release-details/biogen-and-eisai-discontinue-phase-3-engage-and-emerge-trials) Thursday. “We are incredibly grateful to all the Alzheimer’s disease patients, their families and the investigators who participated in the trials and contributed greatly to this research.” Biogen and its Japanese partner Eisai decided to end the aducanumab trials after an independent data-monitoring committee determined that the drug was unlikely to provide benefit to Alzheimer’s patients compared to a placebo, the company said in its statement. The committee did not find safety issues associated with the drug. Aducanumab was meant to slow the rate of cognitive decline and functional impairment in people with mild Alzheimer’s disease by clearing amyloid from the brain. Amyloid protein is thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s-related decline by forming sticky plaques in the brain, potentially compromising nerve cells and leading to dementia and memory loss. The trial’s failure, however, calls that amyloid hypothesis — and potential treatment path — into question. It’s also yet another failure in the search for a drug that can fight Alzheimer’s disease, which has been riddled with bad news in recent years. In 2018, pharmaceutical companies including [Eli Lilly](http://time.com/5117042/solanezumab-alzheimers-drug/), [AstraZeneca](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lilly-alzheimers/lilly-astrazeneca-latest-to-abandon-alzheimers-drug-trials-idUSKBN1J81L9), [Pfizer](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfizer-alzheimers/pfizer-ends-research-for-new-alzheimers-parkinsons-drugs-idUSKBN1EW0TN) and [Merck](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-alzheimers/merck-scraps-another-late-stage-alzheimers-drug-study-idUSKCN1FX2Z7) halted research or development into [possible Alzheimer’s and dementia therapies](http://time.com/5349032/alzheimers-drug-eisai-biogen-ban2401/) due to disappointing results. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/"},"headline":"Biogen Halts Promising Alzheimer's Drug Trials Due to Disappointing Results","datePublished":"2019-03-21T14:20:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:53.485Z","description":"The drug is unlikely to help patients","url":"https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/","keywords":["Drugs","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52f5356168493b83/6989471197cdff309e6b7869/aducanumab-alzheimers-trials.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52f5356168493b83/6989471197cdff309e6b7869/aducanumab-alzheimers-trials.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Caring","caption":"Alzheimer's drug trials","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/","name":"Biogen Halts Promising Alzheimer's Drug Trials Due to Disappointing Results"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Alzheimer's New Hope","description":"TIME follows a patient as he begins a drug trial that could offer groundbreaking treatment of Alzheimer's","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Dz6EZRwJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-02-14T23:50:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Dz6EZRwJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/","duration":"PT6M48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5555868/biogen-aducanumab-trials/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```