Breakthrough in Alzheimer research?

Biotech company announces breakthrough for new drug against Alzheimer's

06/05/2014

The Viennese biotech company Affiris reported on one at its press conference yesterday „Breakthrough in Alzheimer's therapy“. It was discovered by accident that an active substance that can stabilize the memory of Alzheimer's patients for a certain period of time. The drug was just discovered in the placebo group that had not even received the actually tested vaccine against dementia.

Trial should actually test efficacy of a vaccine against Alzheimer's
A total of 332 Alzheimer's patients participated in the blinded placebo-controlled study. The effectiveness of the vaccine AD02 against Alzheimer's disease should be investigated. „Normally, saline is given as a placebo, but this was not possible for our study, "says Walter Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Affiris „derStandard.at“. Because the effective solution looks dull. A clear liquid such as saline would have noticed the doctors at the top. Therefore, the placebo group received the vaccine without the active ingredient.

The study aimed to test whether AD02 can stabilize the memory of Alzheimer's patients. In addition, a possible effect on the hippocampus, which can be detected by biomarkers, should be investigated. Both are also called „Disease modification“ designated.

Random discovery of an active substance against Alzheimer's
In the evaluation of their investigation, the researchers came up with surprising results: in the placebo group, in particular, 47 percent of the participants were able to hold off a negative course of the disease for 18 months. These study participants had never received the active ingredient AD02, but only the vaccine. This was particularly well in patients whose dementia was still in their early stages. Also, the biomarker test to check the stabilization of the volume of the hippocampus - in Alzheimer's patients, this brain region shrinks due to illness - gave positive results. „We puzzled for a while, but then decided that the placebo was a new substance and called it AD04, "Schmidt tells the online edition of the newspaper," What is AD04 exactly and whether in the placebo agent An adjuvant contained in many vaccines, similar to an active agent enhancer, was included, the Affiris CEO did not explain. „We filed the patents two weeks ago, and I can not comment on that. "However, the placebo group definitely did not get the peptide vaccine contained in AD02 because AD04 is an immunomodulator that works on the immune system, Schmidt revealed.

Further studies to confirm the effectiveness of the new drug against Alzheimer's necessary
„From the beginning, several drug candidates have been part of our Alzheimer's Disease Development Program. AD04 now shows the most convincing therapeutic effect, also in terms of parameters that reflect behavioral problems and quality of life. Since the current results are so extraordinarily positive and consistent across the various clinical endpoints and the biomarker hippocampal volume, we expect them to be confirmed in further clinical trials, "said Prof. Achim Schneeberger, CMO Affiris, in a statement from the pharmaceutical company.

The pharmaceutical company is now looking for financially strong partners. Because further investigations must follow, in which the results are confirmed and AD04 must also pass the test with placebos. In addition, the dosage must be tested. However, it will be some time before a so-called Phase 3 clinical trial, which will start administering the drug to a large number of patients and check its effectiveness, will take some time.

„Our results clearly show that with AD04 it was possible for the very first time to stop the course of Alzheimer's disease in the sense of modifying the course of the disease, "according to the company.