THERAPEUTIC PARKINSON’S VACCINE

FIRST CLINICAL DATA OF THERAPEUTIC PARKINSON’S VACCINE ENCOURAGES CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT

NEW YORK & VIENNA, July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire

Many of the attendees in our support groups this past month asked about the Press Release regarding a Phase I clinical trial of PD01A, a vaccine against Parkinson’s disease.

What has been done in this study is that the native protein alpha-synuclein has been injected in Phase-1 trials at a dose of 15 ug and 75 ug in healthy people to test if it causes any toxicity. It was not a therapeutic treatment to PD patients. Their (AFFiRiS AG) goal is to treat patients with the same dose in Phase-2 trials. They want to produce antibody for alpha-synuclein in patients with a hope it can migrate to the brain to treat the disease. Antibodies made in our bodies also have poor penetration into the brain due to the blood brain barrier (BBB). So, the chances of success are very low.

The same approach has been tried with Alzheimer’s patients whereby patients were injected with amyloid-beta peptide to produce antibody to treat the patients. The approach failed and the trials were halted.

Rationally, this is a very sound approach. It is similar to generating antibody to a viral infection. We get a virus, the body makes an antibody and the virus is neutralized. Unfortunately, the brain is protected by the BBB. Our own antibodies cannot reach the brain in a dose that can be therapeutically beneficial.

The approach of the SDBC is different. They make an antibody for alpha-synuclein in animals. Isolate it and make it very small in the laboratory so that it can go to the brain. They have shown that their SMART Molecules have 150 fold higher BBB penetration than the human or mouse antibodies. So, you can make up your own mind to assess what may work better.

According to the press release, a major Parkinson’s Foundation financially supported the AFFiRiS AG project. Similarly, a major Parkinson’s Foundation funded a project at Harvard in which the investigator was delivering a drug to the brain using a big needle through the nose rupturing the brain barrier but calling it a non-invasive approach. It may be important to watch if foundations are funding big names rather than funding projects of good quality.