In March 2024 Vaxxinity announced “positive clinical data” from the UB-312 programme in Parkinson’s disease, presented by Dr Jean-Cosme Dodart, SVP of Research, at a conference. Vaxxinity identifies UB-312 as the “first active immunotherapy candidate” to show “reduction of pathological alpha-synuclein (aSyn) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients. UB-312 targets aggregated forms of aSyn, the toxic species that “underlies” PD and other synucleinopathies. It is being assessed in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase I clinical trial.
Preferential binding to aSyn
Vaxxinity reports that UB-312-induced antibodies showed “preferential binding” to aggregated aSyn and “almost no binding” to normal monomeric aSyn, measured by dot blot. Participants treated with UB-312 in a single priming regimen in the 300/100/100µg dosing group showed a 20% decrease from baseline in aggregated aSyn in the CSF, compared to a 3% increase in the placebo group. Additionally, a post hoc analysis showed that patients with detectable UB-312-induced antibodies in the CSF exhibited “improvement in activities of daily living” as measured by the MDS-UPDRS II clinical scale.
Changing the conversation
Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Vaxxinity, Lou Reese, identifies a “potential to change the whole conversation around Parkinson’s treatment and prevention” in the UB-312 programme.
“Our findings suggest UB-312 could transform Parkinson’s care, offering hope for improved outcomes with a disease-modifying treatment. The future isn’t decades away: today’s Parkinson’s patients may have hope for the near, not distant future.”
Dr Dodart is also “very excited” about the target engagement data, particularly as there are “no treatments that address the underlying conditions of Parkinson’s”.
“This provides us confidence that we are going after the right target and in a way that is statistically and clinically relevant to patients. There is new hope on the horizon.”
Parkinson’s is the “fastest growing neurodegenerative disease in the world”, but the team is “committed to developing safe, convenient, and effective disease-modifying active immunotherapies for all.”
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