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Pharmaceutical companies have announced significant progress in a collaboration created to develop a vaccination programme against Alzheimer’s disease.
The AFFiRiS AG and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals collaboration has a lead vaccine candidate – AD02 – in Phase II clinical testing.
Two additional preclinical programmes have also been completed
successfully.
The second programme was related to alternative vaccine candidates generated by AFFiRiS´ AFFITOME® technology, including candidate AD03.
Based on the promising preliminary results of this programme, GSK exercised its option for the alternative vaccine candidates which triggered a EUR 2.5million payment to AFFiRiS.
An additional EUR 1million payment became due simultaneously for the successful completion of tests of alternative vaccine formulations.
AFFiRiS announced today the successful completion of preclinical work packages and related payments of EUR 3.5million from GSK to AFFiRiS.
The two companies have been working together for more than two years on an active vaccination approach for the treatment of Alzheimer´s disease.
The collaboration is based on a license and option agreement announced in October 2008.
The deal has a total potential value of up to EUR 430million plus royalties. EUR 36million have already been paid within the framework of this collaboration.
The co-founder and CEO of AFFiRiS, Dr. Walter Schmidt comments: “Our Alzheimer’s vaccination programme is progressing very positively.
“Two vaccine candidates, AD01 and AD02, demonstrated satisfactory safety and tolerability profiles in Phase I clinical trials and AD02 has already been moved forward into clinical Phase II for efficacy testing.
“Now we have opened the pathway to alternative vaccine candidates such as AD03 and we are delighted that GSK awarded this achievement by exercising its related option.
“We welcome the opportunity to extend and further strengthen the collaboration between the two companies.”
All three of AFFiRiS´s Alzheimer’s vaccine candidates are designed to induce antibodies targeting the beta-amyloid peptide that is believed to contribute significantly to the pathology of Alzheimer’s.
With AD03, the third of the candidates, AFFiRiS additionally targets modified beta-amyloid peptides with their putatively different toxicity profiles in humans.
On top of its diversified activities in the Alzheimer´s field, AFFiRiS possesses a strong product pipeline including vaccine canditates for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension and various other diseases.
Remarkably, AFFiRiS recently announced that its preclinical programme for the development of a Parkinson’s disease vaccine has been awarded with substantial funding by the US-based Michael J. Fox Foundation.
