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An experimental Alzheimer’s drug developed by Acumen Pharmaceuticals that targets a new form of the toxic protein beta-amyloid in the brain has passed a safety test and will move on to a larger study, the company announced on Sunday.
The drug, ACI193, was well tolerated in the first human trial, the company said. The results of the placebo-controlled trial of 62 patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam.
Acumen’s drug targets and binds to amyloid beta oligomers, a toxic, soluble version of the amyloid protein that forms brain plaques associated with the memory-destroying disease, Dr. Eric Siemers, Acumen’s chief medical officer, said in an interview.
The target is similar to that of Biogensi Eisai’s recently approved drug Leqembi, which targets another soluble and toxic form of the protein in the brain. Leqembi won standard approval in the US earlier this month after showing it could remove amyloid plaques and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in patients in the early stages.
In the Acumen study, 10.4% of treated participants (5 people) developed a brain swelling condition known as ARIA-E associated with treatments that target amyloid. Of these, only one had symptoms, which resolved after the drug was stopped.
Another 8.3% developed treatment-related bleeding in the brain, known as ARIA-H.
“Because this antibody targets oligomers but is not intended to target plaque, we didn’t know whether we would have ARIA or not,” Siemers said, adding that cases of ARIA may suggest the drug is having an effect.
People who received higher doses of the drug also showed a reduction in amyloid plaque after 6 to 12 weeks, the company said. Acumen said the study suggests the drug could be given as a monthly intravenous infusion.
2023-07-16 10:40:00
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