Vaxxinity announces ‘positive’ target engagement data from Phase 1 trial

Vaxxinity announced “positive” clinical data from its UB-312 program in Parkinson’s disease, or PD, presented by Jean-Cosme Dodart, PhD, SVP of Research at Vaxxinity in an oral session at the AD/PD 2024 International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, held virtually and in Lisbon, Portugal from March 5 to March 9. UB-312 is the first active immunotherapy candidate to show reduction of pathological alpha-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid of PD patients, the company stated. The UB-312-induced antibodies showed preferential binding to aggregated aSyn and almost no binding to normal monomeric aSyn, as measured by dot blot. After a single priming regimen, those treated with UB-312 in the 300/100/100microgram dosing group showed a 20% decrease from baseline in aggregated aSyn in the CSF compared to a 3% increase in the placebo group, as measured by a Seed Amplification Assay. Further, a post hoc analysis showed that patients with detectable UB-312-induced antibodies in the CSF exhibited improvement in activities of daily living as measured by the MDS-UPDRS II clinical scale. These data also suggest a correlation between reduction in aggregated aSyn in the brain and change in MDS-UPDRS II, the company said. “What we see from our UB-312 program is the potential to change the whole conversation around Parkinson’s treatment and prevention. Our findings suggest UB-312 could transform Parkinson’s care, offering hope for improved outcomes with a disease-modifying treatment. The future isn’t decades away: today’s Parkinson’s patients may have hope for the near, not distant future,” says Lou Reese, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Vaxxinity.