The first patients to be treated with a new vaccine against Alzheimer's disease are likely to begin participating in clinical trials by the end of this year, the US researcher who led the dramatic breakthrough has confirmed.
Prof Ivan Lieberburg, senior research vice-president of the Irish-owned pharmaceutical company Elan Corporation, said work on the development of the vaccine had accelerated since the discovery was announced in July.
Many new studies had confirmed their initial work showing the "peptide vaccine" could prevent the disease in healthy genetically-engineered mice, but also halt it in animals with the condition and in some cases reverse the damage it causes to brain cells.
The company would be applying to the US Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin treatment trials with humans within a month, said the clinical professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. The FDA would give its verdict within 30 days.
Speaking at a symposium to review Alzheimer's disease research, Prof Lieberburg said they had determined the appropriate adjuvant to use with the vaccine. It is mixed with it to ensure the immune system is appropriately stimulated. He estimated the vaccine would be routinely available to patients within four to six years.
A series of studies had examined the vaccine's suitability in other animals with no toxic effects found. "The US FDA suggested a number of studies which we did do. They thought it was a very exciting new therapy."
The research should be seen as a coup for Ireland, he added, and Elan now had what was probably the leading Alzheimer's research programme in the world, with some 110 scientists working on the disease.
Prof John Hardy of the Mayo Clinic's neurogenetics laboratory in Jacksonville, Florida, said the natural follow-on was to investigate if the technique would work with prion diseases like BSE. CJD and a range of neuro-degenerative conditions may be equally susceptible.
Research over the past 10 years suggested treatment strategies developed for a particular disease that impairs nerve cells (such as those in the brain or spinal tissue) could be suitable in treating related conditions, he noted.
It was an exciting time to be working in this field, he said, because of emerging links between the diseases. He also outlined success in determining genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer's disease; all of which are associated with the production of a particular protein component known as peptide Abeta 42.
The symposium's organiser, Dr Cora O'Neill of UCC's department of biochemistry, said one of its purposes was to underline the need for more research on the disease in Ireland as it was affecting more and more older people here. "There is a lot of focus on care, but it is really important to have a research base, too," she said.