AXON Neuroscience has completed a pioneer Phase I that offers new hope for millions of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This makes AXON the first company to successfully complete this clinical trial for a vaccine that targets diseased tau proteins, which cause neural degeneration.
Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the presence of prejudicial forms of protein tau and senile plaques composed of amyloid beta protein, which has been linked with neuronal loss and severity of dementia. A therapy targeting damaging forms of tau protein would thus have the potential to protect neurons from degeneration.
The vaccine developed by AXON is designed to stimulate patients‘ immune systems to generate specific antibodies against diseased forms of tau protein, and halt the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. The Slovakian company just finished the first-in-man Phase I study, dedicated to assess the safety and tolerability of the candidate.
Whilst the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease is rising quickly, no effective treatment is yet available. Symptomatic therapy, the most common therapeutic approach, cannot stop the progression of the disease. Therefore, much attention is now being directed to develop novel disease modifying therapeutic approaches, aiming to stop the disease and repair the damaged brain.
This new therapy is now becoming a reality supported by these last clinical results, and allows patients to dream of a brighter tomorrow.