7th June 2012 - News release

FIRST VACCINE FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE

The first clinical trial for the development of a Parkinson’s Disease vaccine has been started by AFFiRiS AG. The vaccine called PD01A is directed against alpha-Synuclein, a protein considered by AFFiRis to cause the onset and progression of Parkinson's Disease. The vaccination aims to educate the immune system to generate antibodies directed against alpha-Synuclein. They believe that a reduction of the brain’s alpha-Synuclein aggregates will have a beneficial impact on the progress of Parkinson's Disease. PD01A aims to accomplish that by the induction of antibodies that are targeting alpha-Synuclein, in order to neutralize its toxic impact.

The vaccine is currently being tested on people with Parkinson’s Disease in a Phase I trial. The clinical trial is taking place in Vienna and involves up to 32 patients. The primary purpose is to assess the safety and tolerability of PD01A. For more information go to AFFiRis.

The weakness in the theory on which the method is reliant is that a lot of people with Parkinson's Disease do not accumulate alpha-Synuclein. So there is none to get rid of. Most people that have an accumulation of alpha-Synuclein in the brain do not have Parkinson's Disease either, thereby proving that alpha-Synuclein is not the cause of Parkinson's Disease. For a printable version of this article click here.  For more current news go to Parkinson's Disease News.

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