An early Phase 1b clinical trial for an Alzheimer’s disease vaccine has recruited its first patient, states vaccine developer Alzinova AB. The vaccine, called ALZ-101, contains antibodies that directly target neurotoxic build-ups of protein, amyloid-beta oligomers, that develop in Alzheimer’s patients and are thought to block important brain signaling.
These aggregations are found up to 20 years before developing the disease, and the hope is a vaccine that prevents them from forming in the brain may prevent the cognitive deficits and memory loss that arises with Alzheimer’s.
"It is very satisfying that ALZ-101 has now entered clinical testing in an area with such a huge unmet medical need. We are looking forward to continuing the development of this potential disease-modifying treatment with the long-term goal to treat and prevent the onset and progression of this devastating disease," says Kristina Torfgård, CEO of Alzinova AB, in a statement.
The trial will be double-blind, placebo-controlled, and randomized, the gold standard for an early Phase 1 trial such as this. Phase 1 trials are conducted to evaluate the safety and dosage of the experimental drug or vaccine, but this trial will also look to assess the immune response elicited by the vaccine.
