AC Immune (NASDAQ: ACIU) stock is up 27.71% after the company provided preclinical and clinical updates for the SupraAntigen-derived liposomal vaccine candidate. The vaccine candidate offers active and long-lasting protection against pathological forms of Amyloid-beta.
AC Immune report promising ACI-14 study results
AC Immune is finalizing a second phase study of its first clinical candidate, ACI-24, in mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. The company is also developing an optimized ACI-24 formulation, which has shown improved and sustained immunogenicity in non-human primate studies, especially against major pathological types of Abeta.
Pyroglutamate Abeta’s altered metabolic characteristics make it more susceptible to aggregate instead of full-length Abeta and it is vital in Abeta plaques. Therefore it makes extracellular pyroGlu-Abeta a target for immunotherapy. In a newly reported Phase 2 clinical trial, passive vaccination with a monoclonal antibody specific for pyroglutamate Abeta showed promising clinical effects. Vaccination with the improved ACI-24 vaccine resulted in a significant, conformation-specific antibody response against oligomeric and pyroGlu-Abeta in non-human primates.
AC immune to submit IND for ACI-24 formualtion
AC Immune CEO Prof. Andrea Pfeifer said that the modified ACI-24 formulation represents a possible breakthrough in Abeta vaccination since it stimulates an immune response against oligomeric and truncated Abeta, which are critical in the Abeta pathway that drives early AD. He added that the promising preclinical results, along with the promising clinical safety and efficacy seen so far for optimized pTau vaccine ACI-35.030 and the first anti-Abeta vaccine candidate ACI-24, demonstrate the strength and versatility of the SupraAntigen®-V platform for delivering safe and long-lasting active immunization.
The company expects to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the enhanced ACI-24 formulation by the end of the year. An accelerated clinical development program in Down syndrome-related Alzheimer’s disease will follow, with second phase testing beginning as early as 2022/23.