Drugmaker Biogen reported Thursday that its expensive Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm brought in $2 million in its first few weeks of availability, the first revenue for a treatment that is expected to generate billions of dollars and strain Medicare's budget within a few years.
The company did not disclose the number of patients who have received the drug, which is priced at $56,000 annually on average. Biogen's chief executive, Michel Vounatsos, said on an earnings call that a "big chunk" of the revenue had come from stockpiled inventory and that the drug's release has been somewhat slower than the company had anticipated.
Several industry analysts estimated based on the revenue figure that fewer than 100 patients had been treated so far. The drug had been expected to get off to a modest start. Many insurers have not yet decided how to cover it. Administration sites -- typically memory clinics that see patients with cognitive problems -- have been slowed by the complexities of administering the drug, which must be given as a monthly intravenous infusion.
The federal agency that administers Medicare said it will determine whether to standardize coverage of the drug across the country.