A Coming “Vaccine” Against Alzheimer’s?

I have decided to highlight stories like this because I have concluded that the bitter ethical controversies over ESCR and human cloning have distorted the true picture of what is happening in the exciting field of biotechnology. So much of the hopeful research that is moving into human trials is not morally contentious at all: Adult/umbilical cord blood stem cell research, gene therapy, and now a potential vaccine to prevent the worsening of Alzheimer’s disease that has started what is often called Stage 1 human trials. From the story:

The vaccine uses a tiny section of the amyloid protein attached to an empty virus shell to trick the immune system into attacking and breaking up deposits of protein clogging the brain

Clever. Get the body attacking the enemy as it would a virus or bacteria.

So far, the indications are good:

Early tests showed the vaccine is highly effective at breaking up the sticky protein that clogs the brain in Alzheimer’s, destroying vital connections between brain cells. When the jab was given to mice suffering from a disease similar to Alzheimer’s, 80 per cent of the patches of amyloid protein were broken up.

The vaccine is now being tried out on 60 elderly Swedish patients in the early and middle stages of Alzheimer’s. Half of the men and women are being given the vaccine while half are being given dummy jabs.

Although the year-long trial is designed to show that the treatment is safe, the researchers will also look at its effect on the patients’ symptoms. While the results are not due until early next year, the initial findings are promising. Dr Renner told a Zurich conference earlier this week: “I am glad to report that the vaccine is very well tolerated.”

If the trial is successful, larger-scale trials will follow, in which researchers will work out the best dose to give and how often it should be given. The finished product is six to eight years from the market.

Of course, it is always wise in stories such as this to keep in mind that an early human trial does not an efficacious treatment make. And, the information release could be an attempt to raise venture capital. But the animal studies were encouraging. If this works, it will provide tremendous relief of human suffering.