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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Immunotherapy, an emerging frontier for a variety of different diseases, involves stimulating the body's own immune system to fight various conditions, including cancer.
Porsteinsson estimated that some one-half to two-thirds of the research push in Alzheimer's is aimed at amyloid therapy and especially immunotherapy.
Bapineuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody which binds to and might be able to eliminate beta amyloid peptide, which accumulate as plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. The drug delivers antibodies to beta amyloid.
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Most experts in the field of Alzheimer's believe that the build-up of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain are responsible for the disease.
But clinical gains in the area of Alzheimer's, not to mention advancement in a basic understanding of the disease, have been hard to come by.
This phase 2 trial involved both men and women with mild to moderate Alzheimer's at more than 30 sites in the United States, Finland and the United Kingdom. All participants received bapineuzumab.
Researchers noted statistically significant improvements in patients without the ApoE4 gene. The therapy did not appear to have a statistically significant benefit in patients with the gene, although there was some benefit.
A large, phase 3 study is currently underway, although even if all goes well, the drug could take almost four years to reach the market, Porsteinsson said.
More information
The Alzheimer's Association has more on current treatments for this condition.
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