Vaccination for Parkinson's disease

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Immunology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the aggregation of alpha-synuclein (aSyn), classifying it as a proteinopathy.
• Modifying the disease course by removing aggregated aSyn is a therapeutic goal.
• Immunotherapy targeting aSyn has shown efficacy in preclinical models of synucleinopathies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a safe and effective immunotherapy for Parkinson's disease.
• To create an alpha-synuclein (aSyn) vaccine that avoids triggering cellular autoimmunity.
• To ensure vaccine-induced antibodies specifically target aSyn without cross-reactivity to beta-synuclein (bSyn).

Main Methods:

• Development of short antigens to prevent T-cell activation and cellular autoimmunity.
• Utilizing the AFFITOME® platform technology for precise antibody targeting.
• Designing vaccines based on safety concepts from Alzheimer's disease (AD) vaccine candidates.

Main Results:

• Preclinical studies in mice demonstrated that aSyn immunotherapy can modify disease aspects.
• The vaccine design aims to elicit antibodies exclusively reactive to aSyn.
• The AFFITOME® platform ensures specificity, excluding cross-reactivity with beta-synuclein (bSyn).

Conclusions:

• A novel Parkinson's disease vaccine (PD01) has been developed by AFFiRiS.
• This vaccine is designed to prevent autoimmunity by avoiding T-cell activation.
• PD01 is poised to enter clinical development, representing a first-in-class therapeutic approach.