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Over the weekend, the world got some staggering and perhaps hopeful news. China’s equivalent of the FDA approved a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, one that’s meant to work by changing the human microbiome.

It goes without saying that any novel treatment for Alzheimer’s is a big deal. It’s been 17 years since the last new drug won approval and the disease affects millions of people around the world. But as the days went on and more details came to light, experts started picking at the data behind this new drug from China and spotting some red flags.

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STAT spoke with Derek Lowe, a medicinal chemist who blogs about drug development for Science Translational Medicine, who was among the clear voices on this topic.

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