Slovakia-based biotech company Axon Neuroscience has started the Adamant Phase II trial by administering the first patient with its active tau vaccine, AADvac1, to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
The randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel group, double-blinded, multi-centre Adamant Phase II trial will be held for a period of 24 months.
It plans to enrol 185 patients and will be conducted across several countries in Europe.
The trial is primarily focused on assessing the safety and immunogenicity aspect of AADvac1 to treat mild Alzheimer’s.
The trial’s secondary objective is to measure the efficacy of the vaccine in diminishing or stopping the effect of the disease in the patients during the 24 months.
AXON Neuroscience CEO Roman Sivak said: "We are grateful for all the efforts of the entire team, investigators, and partners, who helped us to move AADvac1 into the phase II study, which is a historical milestone for Alzheimer’s research and clinical development."
AADvac1 is an active tau vaccine developed to act as a disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s and other tauopathies.
It draws out antibodies against the pathological tau protein, which is recognized as the primary cause of neurofibrillary pathology in Alzheimer’s disease.
The tau protein will be blocked by these antibodies from pathological interactions which will result to the removal of tau pathology, thereby diminishing or stopping the progress of Alzheimer’s disease.
Image: Illustration of changes in tau protein causing Alzheimer’s disease. Photo: courtesy of Adear via Wikipedia.
