Vaccinating against Alzheimer´s

An innovative vaccination can significantly reduce deposits of the substances in the brain responsible for causing Alzheimer’s disease according to results disclosed by Affiris, a company located at the Campus Vienna Biocentre in Austria. The rapid progress during the pre-clinical development phase has already enabled the Vienna-based company, although having operated only since April 2004, to plan clinical trials for 2006. Beta-amyloids are pathological fragments of a normal brain protein. They are responsible for the development of Alzheimer’s disease, as they cause the death of brain cells. Amyloid fragments are found in large amounts in the cerebral fluid of Alzheimer patients. Deposits are formed in the brain over the years, thus creating the plaque structures typical of Alzheimer’s disease. It has not yet been completely clarified whether plaque formation or the soluble beta-amyloids are the causative agents for Alzheimer’s disease. Affiris is now reporting that it has succeeded in significantly reducing Alzheimer plaques by at least two-thirds in pre-clinical models by means of an innovative vaccine. Walter Schmidt, CEO, explained the important feature of the vaccination strategy. "Alzheimer’s is caused by a fragment of one of the ubiquitous proteins of cerebral cells. If one wants to combat Alzheimer immunologically it is essential to generate antibodies which are targeted against the beta-amyloids, but which leave the normal constituent of the cerebral cells unharmed, since the latter would induce an autoimmune disease. In keeping with this, Affiris’ vaccine approach has been shown to be highly specific for beta amyloids and not to react with the normal constituent of cerebral cells." So the Affiris approach not only avoids an autoimmune disease, but also offers the advantage of targeting simultaneously both the plaques and the soluble beta-amyloid fraction. Therefore, whether the soluble or plaque forms - or both - are responsible for causing the disease is not ultimately crucial for the vaccine’s success. Beside its scientific success, Affiris also boasts important economic advantages: low costs and short manufacturing times for its vaccine. "Our substances are produced at low costs and a building-block system is used to form the vaccine. The effective component is synthetically manufactured and combined with a carrier substance isolated from natural resources. Both together form the actual vaccine and a standard adjuvant is added to strengthen the immune response," concluded Schmidt. "Source":[ http://www.scientistlive.com/14401/new-therapies-driven-by-advances-in-biotechnology.thtml].

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