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In the long-running debate over just what causes Alzheimer’s disease, one side looks to have scored a victory with new results with an in-development drug. But there’s enough variation in the data to ensure that the squabbling factions of Alzheimer’s will have plenty to fight about. At issue is the so-called amyloid hypothesis, a decades-old theory claiming that Alzheimer’s gradual degradation of the brain is caused by the accumulation of sticky plaques. And the new drug is BAN2401, designed by Biogen and Eisai to prevent those amyloid plaques from clustering and attack the clumps that already have. (Garde, 7/30)

Puzzled by those controversial Alzheimer’s disease data from Biogen and Eisai? We asked an expert to break down what they mean for patients, for science, and for the future of what could be a promising treatment for a devastating disease. Dr. Howard Fillit, chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, joined us to answer STAT Plus subscribers’ questions on BAN2401, the therapy from Biogen and Eisai that just completed Phase 2 testing. (Garde, 7/27)