[ExI] Alzheimer's vaccine trial a success

[BillK]

On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 6:24 AM, James Clement  wrote:
>
> This was just a phase-one clinical study, meaning their objective was to determine whether anyone
> would die or get a terrible side effect from the treatment.
> Here's the summary from the Lancet Neurology:
<snip>
>
> Interpretation
> Our findings suggest that CAD106 has a favourable safety profile and acceptable antibody
> response in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Larger trials with additional dose investigations
> are needed to confirm the safety and establish the efficacy of CAD106.
>
>


Not quite accurate. The results are better than you suggest.

Their *primary* objective was to determine whether anyone would die or
get a terrible side effect from the treatment. But they also found
good antibody generation in both cohorts of patients.
Quote:
16 of 24 (67%) CAD106-treated patients in cohort one and 18 of 22
(82%) in cohort two developed Aβ antibody response meeting
pre-specified responder threshold.

As the original report says:
The researchers found that 80 per cent of the patients involved in the
trials developed their own protective antibodies against beta-amyloid
without suffering any side-effects over the three years of the study.
The researchers believe that this suggests that the CAD106 vaccine is
a tolerable treatment for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's.
Larger trials must now be conducted to confirm the CAD106 vaccine's
efficacy.
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BillK