Biogen files for Japan approval for Alzheimer's drug developed with Eisai

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Eisai Co Ltd is displayed at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Biogen said on Thursday it filed for regulatory approval in Japan for an Alzheimer's disease drug it developed with local partner Eisai Co.

Eisai's shares surged in Tokyo trading.

The drug aducanumab is also under regulatory review in the United States and Europe. U.S.-based Biogen and Eisai have jointly developed three experimental drugs for Alzheimer's, which affects millions around the world and has not seen a new treatment in decades.

FILE PHOTO: A sign marks a Biogen facility, some of whose employees tested positive for the coronavirus after attending a meeting in Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Biogen in October 2019 revived approval plans for aducanumab months after an analysis of its two pivotal trials showed the drug was unlikely to succeed.

Last month, an outside panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug administration said the drug had not been proven to slow progression of the disease. The FDA could still decide to approve the drug.

Eisai's shares jumped 2.3% in Tokyo versus a 0.2% drop in the broader market.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Kim Coghill)