Roche drug sounds like a me too version of biogen's..
Name: Gantenerumab Synonyms: RO4909832, RG1450 Therapy Type: Immunotherapy (passive) (timeline) Target Type: Amyloid-Related (timeline) Condition(s): Alzheimer's Disease U.S. FDA Status: Alzheimer's Disease (Phase 3) Company: Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Hoffmann-La Roche BACKGROUND Gantenerumab is a fully human IgG1 antibody designed to bind with subnanomolar affinity to a conformational epitope on Aß fibrils. It encompasses both N-terminal and central amino acids of Aß. The therapeutic rationale for this antibody is that it acts centrally to disassemble and degrade amyloid plaques by recruiting microglia and activating phagocytosis. Gantenerumab preferentially interacts with aggregated brain Aß, both parenchymal and vascular. The antibody elicits phagocytosis of human Aß deposits in AD brain slices co-cultured with human macrophages. It also neutralizes oligomeric Aß42-mediated inhibitory effects on long-term potentiation in rat brains. In APP/PS-1 transgenic mice, gantenerumab binds to cerebral Aß, reduces small plaques by recruiting microglia, and prevents new plaque formation. Gantenerumab does not alter plasma Aß (Bohrmann et al., 2012). It has been studied as a potential combination therapy with the Roche BACE inhibitor RG7129 in mouse models of Aß amyloidosis (Apr 2013 news).
FINDINGS Four Phase 1 trials conducted internationally in a total of 308 patients have tested the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple doses of infused and subcutaneous gantenerumab in healthy controls and people with Alzheimer's disease, respectively. Gantenerumab was generally safe and well-tolerated, but amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) are a concern. For example, in one published study, two of six patients in the highest-dose group had focal areas of inflammation or vasogenic edema on MRI scans in brain areas with the most amyloid reduction (Ostrowitzki et al., 2012). The imaging finding was transient, but ARIA are being monitored closely with MRI in subsequent trials. One dosing study with 16 participants indicated an 11 percent difference in the amount of amyloid change between placebo and the higher dose at six months.
In 2010, Roche started a Phase 2 trial of 105 or 225 mg gantenerumab injected subcutaneously once a month into 360 participants, and in 2012 expanded the study to a Phase 2/3 registration trial of 799 people. Called SCarlet RoAD, this multinational, 159-center study of gantenerumab's effect on cognition and function in prodromal Alzheimer's disease delivered treatment for two years with the option of a two-year extension. Co-primary endpoints were the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) and change in brain amyloid levels as measured by PET. The trial included a PET sub-study of 90 participants. SCarlet RoAD enrolled people aged 50 and older whose memory function tested below normal on the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT-IR), whose MMSE was 24 or above, whose CDR was 0.5, and who were positive on amyloid PET. This was one of first times the new diagnostic criteria by the International Working Group were applied in a large clinical trial. At the November 2014 CTAD conference, data were reported to suggest that this screening process worked to enroll a homogenous population of early symptomatic patients whose memory deficit was likely due to underlying Alzheimer's pathology (Dec 2014 conference news).
On December 19, 2014, Roche stopped dosing in SCarlet RoAD based on an interim futility analysis (Dec 2014 news). In July 2015, Roche reported no efficacy on primary or secondary endpoints in this trial, but a trend toward a benefit in the fastest progressors based on post hoc analysis (Aug 2015 conference news). Subsequent reports noted biomarker and efficacy signals on the high dose among fast progressors, and the data was formally published (Nov 2015 conference news; Ostrowitzki et al., 2017). SCarlet RoAD participants who entered the open-label extension study were titrated up to 1,200 mg subcutaneous gantenerumab. The slower this titration, the less ARIA-E they experienced (Dec 2017 conference news). The open-label extension will run until July 2020.
In March 2014, Roche started a Phase 3 trial of monthly subcutaneous injections of gantenerumab in what was anticipated to be 1,000 patients with clinical diagnoses of mild AD. This trial, called Marguerite RoAD, used the ADAS-cog and ADCD-ADL as co-primary and various biomarkers and clinical/neuropsychiatric measures as secondary outcomes. On October 10, 2016, the clinicaltrials.gov entry for this study was updated to reflect that this trial had stopped enrolling at 389 participants. Roche later reported that, like SCarlet RoAD, Marguerite RoAD had failed an interim futility analysis. It was switched to an open-label extension study, with participants titrated up to 1,200 mg gantenerumab.
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