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[Aducanumab and Alzheimer's disease: a critical reflection.]
Vanacore N, Blasimme A, Canevelli M.. Recenti progressi in medicina, 2021-07-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
On June 7, 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved aducanumab, a monoclonal amyloid targeting β-amyloid, for the treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD). This decision was achieved through the Accelerated Approval Pathway and was essentially motivated by the evidence that aducanumab reduces brain amyloid plaques. This news is causing a heated debate in the scientific community.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Vanacore, N., Blasimme, A., & Canevelli, M. (2021). [Aducanumab and Alzheimer's disease: a critical reflection.]. Recenti progressi in medicina. https://doi.org/10.1701/3638.36183
Vancouver
Vanacore N, Blasimme A, Canevelli M. [Aducanumab and Alzheimer's disease: a critical reflection.]. Recenti progressi in medicina. 2021. doi:10.1701/3638.36183. PMID: 34263875.
BibTeX
@article{vanacore2021-34263875,
author = {Vanacore, N. and Blasimme, A. and Canevelli, M.},
title = {{[Aducanumab and Alzheimer's disease: a critical reflection.]}},
journal = {Recenti progressi in medicina},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1701/3638.36183},
pmid = {34263875},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1701/3638.36183}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- This decision was achieved through the Accelerated Approval Pathway and was essentially motivated by the evidence that aducanumab reduces brain amyloid plaques.
- This news is causing a heated debate in the scientific community.
- On the one hand, aducanumab is the first drug to be approved for the treatment of the disease since 2003 and is the first drug to act on the alleged pathophysiological mechanisms of AD.
- At the same time, the evidence of clinical benefit coming from two phase 3 clinical trials is contradictory and still inconclusive.
Why it matters
This paper reports that the FDA approved aducanumab through the Accelerated Approval Pathway, essentially motivated by evidence that it reduces brain amyloid plaques. It notes that this news is causing heated debate in the scientific community, and that evidence of clinical benefit from two phase 3 trials is at issue.
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Study details
- Study designclinical trial
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 27/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Recenti progressi in medicina) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Recenti Progressi in Medicina: journal h-index 21 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | Design recorded as “clinical trial”, which our rubric does not rank (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 7 year(s) since 2021 |
| Impact for its field and year | 0 / 6 | Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Marco Canevelli: h-index 36 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | ETH Zurich: institution h-index 1,286 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34263875) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 27 / 100 | — |
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