Just weeks after winning approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm — a decision that continues to be mired in controversy — Biogen Inc. has scored breakthrough therapy designation for another, similar drug called lecanemab. The designation means that the FDA will now expedite its review of lecanemab for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, potentially paving the way for the Cambridge biotech (Nasdaq: BIIB) to have two drugs approved for the disease in an unprecedentedly short timespan. When Aduhelm, generically known as aducanumab, was approved earlier this month, it became the first Alzheimer’s drug to hit the market in nearly two decades.
