Alzheimer’s Vaccine…For Mice, Monkeys, and Rabbits

Posted on by

It’s of course widely accepted that potential drugs for human use must first successfully pass through animal testing. Unfortunately, that in no way guarantees that the candidate drug will be efficacious for the human animal. And this has be depressingly common for drugs directed at Alzheimer’s. Quite a few have done well when tested in the mice model, yet have fallen flat during human testing. (The disappointment of the researchers who have spent years of hard, hopeful work must be brutal.)

Last week a paper was published describing another possible vaccine against Alzheimer’s. It is the latest in about 10 years of work, in which the idea has been tested previously in monkeys and rabbits, and now reports the positive outcomes in mice. The researchers hope that human trials might begin within 3-5 years. Below are links to an institutional press release about the work, to a media article about the work, and to the research paper itself.

DNA Vaccine Reduces Both Toxic Proteins Linked to Alzheimer’s

DNA vaccine reduces both toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer’s

Research article:
Active full-length DNA Aβ42 immunization in 3xTg-AD mice reduces not only amyloid deposition but also tau pathology

All three links have been added to Alzheimers > Treatment > Drugs.