This result was disclosed today by Affiris GmbH, a company located at the Campus Vienna Biocenter, Austria. The rapid progress during the pre-clinical development phase has already enabled the Vienna-based company, although having operated only since April 2004, to plan clinical trials for 2006.

Beta-amyloids are pathological fragments of a normal brain protein. They are responsible for the development of Alzheimer's disease, as they cause the death of brain cells. Amyloid fragments are found in large amounts in the cerebral fluid of Alzheimer patients.

The Vienna-based company Affiris is now reporting that it has succeeded in significantly reducing Alzheimer plaques by at least two-thirds in pre-clinical models by means of an innovative vaccine.
The vaccination induces antibodies, which are capable to attack Alzheimer plaques.

CEO Dr. Walter Schmidt explains the important feature of the vaccination strategy: "If one wants to combat Alzheimer immunologically it is essential to generate antibodies which are targeted against the beta-amyloids, but which leave the normal constituent of the cerebral cells unharmed, since the latter would induce an autoimmune disease.

In keeping with this, Affiris' vaccine approach has been shown to be highly specific for beta amyloids and not to react with the normal constituent of cerebral cells."