Immunotherapy boosts brain to fight Alzheimer’s disease

Many years of research by Professor Michal Schwartz have changed the idea that the brain is completely isolated from the immune system. It has been proven that the aging of the immune system leads to an exacerbation of inflammatory processes in brain tissue and accelerates the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Only removing amyloid plaques is not enough, since the disease is systemic in nature.

Instead of directly targeting abnormal protein deposits, the researchers proposed regulating immune checkpoints. The human antibody IBC-Ab002, created on the basis of this technology, temporarily removes the blockage from the immune system and activates the work of immune cells. This helps the body independently cleanse the brain of aging cells, reduces the level of neuroinflammation and slows down the degradation of neurons. The work was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

International phase 1 clinical trials conducted in the UK, Israel and the Netherlands involving 40 patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease confirmed the safety and good tolerability of the new treatment. The drug demonstrated the intended biological activity: patients experienced reduced rates of neuronal damage and loss of synaptic connections.

“The goal of our biological therapy is to restore the immune system’s youthful ability to protect the brain, thereby helping to stop the disease or even reverse it. We believe that this approach will help discover new treatments for dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, the prevalence of which continues to increase as the population ages,” says Professor Michal Schwarz.