18.07.12
New antibody-based drug stems Alzheimer’s progress
A study has found that regular injections of immunoglobin can halt the progress of Alzheimer’s disease for up to three years.
Researchers conducted a study on 24 patients, who were administered immunoglobin injections every two weeks, and the results showed no further decline in mental function, mood and memory.
Immunoglobin is derived from blood antibodies and is typically employed to treat immuno-deficient patients. Doses are extracted from blood plasma, usually collated from 1,000 donors. The drug has been found to protect brain cells from Alzheimer’s for up to three years in early stages of the degenerative disease.
The drug operates on the theory that it prevents the build up of amyloid plaques on brain cells, which is the thought to be the cause of Alzheimer’s.
A larger study is due to be conducted due to the results garnered on these patients. Professor Clive Ballard, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “If the phase 3 trials are successful, and it can be made cost effective, this drug could be on the shelves within 10 years.”
Prof Ballard hopes to see the results of the study replicated in larger groups.
The findings of the study were announced at this year’s Alzheimer's Association International Conference inVancouver,Canada.
Immunoglobin is currently very expensive to produce because of the process of extracting the drug from plasma and from such a large supply of blood donors.
Researchers are keen to find a way to make the drug cost efficient as it currently costs thousands of pounds to produce a single dose. The drug is very promising because it showed consistent results in the study, whereas the three licensed drugs for the prevention of Alzheimer’s currently on the market only slow the progress of the disease in early or middle stages for some patients but not for others.
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