First-of-Its-Kind Alzheimer's Vaccine Just Passed Safety Tests in Latest Human Trials - ScienceAlert

In a phase II clinical trial, the drug candidate AADvac1, developed by biotech company Axon Neuroscience, was shown to be safely tolerated by patients, and to produce a response against certain markers of the disease.

In support of that, the latest trial showed that AADvac1 is linked to slower accumulation of a neurofilament light-chain (NfL) protein, suggesting slower neurodegeneration compared to the patients who received the placebo.

"To the extent of my knowledge, this is the first time that a tau-targeted immunotherapy showed clear evidence of impact on the neurodegenerative process and a strong indication of clinical effect in patients with a confirmed Alzheimer's disease biomarker profile," Petr Novak, first author of the study and the senior clinical research scientist at Axon Neuroscience, told MedPage Today.

As to whether AADvac1 can deliver on its promise of successfully treating cognitive decline, however, the researchers say we'll need a larger trial involving more patients – and also likely more patients whose dementia is tied to tau pathology in particular.