Achim Schneeberger, MD, AFFiRiS chief medical officer, presented safety findings from the first clinical trial of a vaccine against alpha-synuclein at the MJFF PD Therapeutics Conference in November.
AFFiRiS, an Austrian biotechnology company, has launched another clinical trial testing an immunotherapy approach against alpha-synuclein.
Alpha-synuclein is the sticky protein that clumps in the brain cells of people with Parkinson’s, which scientists believe harms the cells. Researchers hypothesize that treating those clumps of protein (called Lewy bodies) will help stop or slow progression of the disease.
AFFiRiS has developed vaccines that prompt the body to create antibodies against alpha-synuclein. The hope is that the antibodies bind to the Lewy bodies and degrade them, keeping the cells healthy.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation funded the Phase I trial of one of these vaccines. AFFiRiS announced in August that that drug (PD01A) was safe and well tolerated by clinical research volunteers. The company is now testing a booster of PD01A to see if more of the drug will help maintain antibody levels. Read more about those findings.
The new study tests a different drug (PD03A). “The vaccine comes from a designated pool of promising vaccine candidates based on AFFiRiS' proprietary AFFITOME® technology,” the company wrote in a press release.
This trial is taking place only in Austria.
Register with Fox Trial Finder to be matched to clinical studies in your area that need volunteers like you, including people without Parkinson’s disease.
Watch our archived webinar to learn more about alpha-synuclein and therapeutic strategies that target this protein.
