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Monoclonal Antibody for Parkinson’s Disease Moves to Phase I Clinical Testing

By November 17, 2021May 26th, 2022No Comments

Monoclonal Antibody for Parkinson’s Disease Moves to Phase I Clinical Testing

A monoclonal antibody that binds to alpha-synuclein is advancing into a clinical trial after showing positive results in the preclinical phase. The compound, known as ABBV-0805, was developed in collaboration between AbbVie and BioArctic, a Swedish biopharma company that focuses on neurodegenerative diseases.

In mouse models of Parkinson’s disease, ABBV-0805 bound to several different formations and sizes of aggregated alpha-synuclein, which are variably responsible for spreading alpha-synuclein and causing cell damage. ABBV-0805 reduced levels of alpha-synuclein by 60% vs a control antibody and prevented its spread. Further, it demonstrated a 100,000-fold selectivity for the toxic aggregated alpha-synuclein vs the harmless monomeric form, which plays an essential role in nerve cell function.

In a blinded survival study, mice were treated with ABBV-0805 or placebo starting at 12 months of age (when pathology appears in a murine model of Parkinson’s) and were terminated when they developed severe motor symptoms. ABBV-0805-treated mice survived for a median 160 days vs 84 days for placebo-treated mice. In a prophylactic setting, ABBV-0805 delayed the onset of severe motor symptoms and prolonged survival by 2 weeks vs placebo.

ABBV-0805 was also tested in the brain tissues of deceased patients with Parkinson’s, where it significantly reduced the levels of aggregated alpha-synuclein.

Based on these findings, ABBV-0805 will be studied in the clinical setting as a potential disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson’s disease and may be tested in dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy in the future.

Read the study
CND Life Sciences

CND Life Sciences is the creator of the Syn-One Test™, the world’s first commercially available test to visualize abnormal, phosphorylated alpha-synuclein in cutaneous nerve fibers. The test is an objective, evidence-based diagnostic tool to aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy, pure autonomic failure, or REM sleep behavior disorder.