ProMIS Neurosciences initiates groundbreaking Cohort Study
Results could pave the way for precision medicine treatment of Alzheimer’s
TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2016 /CNW/ – ProMIS Neurosciences (“ProMIS” or the “Company”), a company focused on discovery and development of precision treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced initiation of a Cohort Study to evaluate the prevalence of different strains of Amyloid beta (Ab) prions in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The first results of the Cohort Study are anticipated in Q1 2017.
“The Cohort Study will use ProMIS’s five recently validated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to detect specific prion targets (epitopes) in samples from AD patients,” stated ProMIS CSO Dr. Neil Cashman. “To our knowledge, this is the first program aimed at generating a broad dataset to assess the prevalence of different A? prion strains in AD patients”.
The Cohort Study is being conducted in the laboratories of ProMIS CSO, Dr. Neil Cashman. The study will use cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from more than 100 patients with dementia, collected over an eight-year period by Dr. Robin Hsiung, Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia. The detailed clinical and laboratory data accompanying some of the samples may also lead to the identification of prion strains associated with more rapid disease progression and/or more prevalent in certain patient subgroups.
“This revolutionary Cohort Study may provide important evidence supporting a critical role for our antibodies in AD,” stated ProMIS Executive Chairman, Eugene Williams. “First, detection of prion targets in CSF samples using our specific mAbs may not only allow to confirm diagnosis of AD but also to determine what subgroup of AD is present, based on which Ab prion targets are detected. Second, these mAbs, after humanization and scale-up, could offer the greatest chance for effective treatment specifically targeted to these subgroups of AD patients, and ultimately may lead to their use for prevention of disease.”
As results of the Cohort Study emerge, the Company plans to pursue multiple research collaborations to further support its precision medicine approach to AD. ProMIS is also evaluating the feasibility and development of a blood-based detection method, which would enable broad screening of patients at risk or suspected of having AD.
Commenting on the Company’s program, Mara Aspinall, a recognized expert in precision medicine and member of the ProMIS Business Advisory Board, stated: “Alzheimer’s Disease has all the hallmarks for the next breakthrough in personalized medicine – a complex disease with variable presentation and prognosis. ProMIS insights and anticipated outcomes of the Cohort Study could represent an important, fundamental shift in our approach to precision diagnosis and treatment of AD.”
