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May 23, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Dropped Alzheimer's Drug Reversed Disease in Some”

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (05/22/03) P. A3; Weiss, Rick

Although an experimental Alzheimer's disease vaccine developed by Elan and Wyeth was abandoned after 18 of 300 trial participants developed brain inflammation, preliminary results from that trial, which were published in the journal Neuron, determined that the vaccine halted or even reversed the disease in some patients.  The information gives researchers hope that a similar vaccine can one day be effective against Alzheimer's disease, which affects 4 million Americans.  The vaccine's concept was to trigger the immune system to attack plaques in the brain that are thought to cause the disease, and animal studies showed the vaccine to be effective and safe. However, the vaccine caused meningoencephalitis in some patients, and although no one died as a result, many had difficulty recovering.  Elan is currently working on an alternative vaccine, and it will apply for Food and Drug Administration approval to begin clinical trials later this year.