CHICAGO – BAN2401, a monoclonal antibody that targets soluble amyloid beta oligomers, slowed cognitive decline in patients with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s dementia on two measures, while clearing brain amyloid in 81% of patients in a phase 2 study.
“The majority of subjects receiving the top dose [10 mg/kg intravenously, biweekly] went from being amyloid positive to amyloid negative,” by the end of the 18-month study, Lynn Kramer, MD, said at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
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Members of the media gather to hear the results of the BAN2401 study at the Alzheimer's Association Internation Conference.
At that dose, BAN2401 also slowed cognitive decline by 30% relative to placebo on the Alzheimer’s Disease Composite Score (ADCOMS), a new tool developed and promoted by Eisai, which is codeveloping the drug with Biogen. The antibody also hit statistical significance on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), with a 47% slowing of decline. A third measure, the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-sb), showed a 26% reduction, but this was not statistically significant.
There were also significant changes in cerebrospinal fluid amyloid beta and total tau, said Dr. Kramer, chief medical officer of Eisai’s neurology division.
“In our opinion, we have fairly conclusive results,” he said at a press briefing. “We view this as robust enough to approach regulatory authorities [around the world] and discuss the next steps with them, and what we need to do to register this product.”
In addition to planning larger, longer phase 3 studies, Dr. Kramer said that Eisai might try to obtain FDA breakthrough therapy status.
BAN2401 selectively binds to amyloid-beta protofibrils – large, soluble amyloid-beta oligomers – and targets them for clearance. It was originally developed by Swedish biopharma company BioArctic; Eisai acquired the molecule in 2007 and entered a deal with Biogen in 2014.
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