Therapeutics

Amilomotide

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Overview

Name: Amilomotide
Synonyms: CAD106
Therapy Type: Immunotherapy (active) (timeline)
Target Type: Amyloid-Related (timeline)
Condition(s): Alzheimer's Disease
U.S. FDA Status: Alzheimer's Disease (Inactive)
Company: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Approved for: None

Background

This is an active vaccination strategy that aims to elicit a strong antibody response while avoiding inflammatory T cell activation (reviewed in Lemere and Masliah, 2010). CAD106 combines multiple copies of Aβ1-6 peptide derived from the N-terminal B cell epitope of Aβ, coupled to a Qβ virus-like particle. In animals, CAD106 induced Aβ-antibody titers without activating Aβ-reactive T cells. Administration of CAD106 to APP-transgenic mice showed a reduction of amyloid accumulation in the brain (Wiessner et al., 2011).

In March 2015, GlaxoSmithKline bought Novartis' vaccine business, but CAD106 was not part of this transaction.

Findings

In 2008, a one-year Phase 1 trial of two doses of CAD106 in 58 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease in Sweden concluded that the vaccine dose-dependently induced Aβ IgG titers that met prespecified "responder" criteria for an immune response while being generally safe and well-tolerated. No meningoencephalitis was reported (Winblad et al., 2012). 

CAD106 has since been tested with subcutaneous and intramuscular injections in five multicenter Phase 2 trials in the U.S. and Europe. Two 66-week extension trials ending in 2010 and 2011 explored antibody response and tolerability of additional doses, i.e., different longer-injection/booster-shot regimens. They found prolonged antibody titers in responders (Farlow et al., 2015). A 90-week trial of 120 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's tested two doses of vaccine and two doses of adjuvant at 36 study sites. This trial contained pharmacogenomic and amyloid PET substudies. It ended in December 2012. Partial results were reported in 2014 at AAIC as indicating antibody maturation and continued safety after seven injections and follow-up of 2½ years. Full results of this study were published after peer review (Vandenberghe et al., 2017). The higher-dose vaccine (450 μg) produced a strong antibody response in 80 percent of recipients. Serious adverse events occurred in 24.5 percent of the vaccine group versus 6.7 percent of placebo. ARIA occurred in six cases, all strong responders; none were symptomatic. Strong responders had amyloid reductions that correlated with antibody titer, and a decrease in brain volume.

In July 2014, Novartis partnered with the Banner Alzheimer Research Institute to conduct a secondary prevention trial within the Alzheimer Prevention Initiative (API, see July 2014 conference news). This Phase 2/3 trial began in November 2015 and was set to run until 2023, with a five-year treatment period. It planned to enroll 1,340 homozygous ApoE4 carriers between the ages of 60 and 75 who were cognitively normal. About half of participants were to be randomized to compare CAD106 to matching placebo injected intramuscularly at weeks 1, 7, 13, 24 and then quarterly. The other half were to be randomized to compare once-daily umibecestat to matching placebo. As primary outcome, the trial planned to measure ability to delay diagnosis to MCI or AD dementia and change on the APICC cognitive composite (Langbaum et al., 2015). An extensive list of secondary outcomes included change on the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale sum of boxes (CDR-SB) along with other cognitive/functional scales, fluid biomarkers including CSF Aβ and tau, brain imaging including volumetric MRI plus amyloid PET and tau PET measurement of brain amyloid and tangle deposition, respectively, as well as safety measures and Aβ titers (see Jul 2014 conference newsLopez et al., 2019). As part of this trial, an outreach and screening registry was built (Walsh et al., 2023).

The umibecestat part of the trial was terminated in July 2019, due to worsening cognition in that cohort. The CAD106 portion of the trial was terminated in September 2019, reportedly due to negative results from other anti-amyloid therapies. Results are posted on ClinicalTrials.gov, and were published after peer review (Riviere et al., 2023). Of 65 people randomized, 42 received vaccine, 23 placebo. All but one of vaccinated people developed Aβ antibodies. The immunized group showed no increase in amyloid plaque accumulation over the observation period of 18 months or more, while the placebo group increased at a rate of 8.36 centiloids per year. Of three ARIA cases, one was symptomatic ARIA-E that did not recur with additional vaccine doses. Adverse events were mainly mild to moderate injection reactions, with one severe injection reaction reported.

In September 2019, Novartis noted that it had 'retired' the CAD106 program (see financial report, p 18).

To view all clinical trials, see clinicaltrials.gov

Clinical Trial Timeline

  • Phase 2
  • Study completed / Planned end date
  • Planned end date unavailable
  • Study aborted
Sponsor Clinical Trial 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation NCT00733863
N=27
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation NCT00795418
N=31
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation NCT00956410
N=21
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation NCT01023685
N=24
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation NCT01097096
N=177

Last Updated: 05 Feb 2024

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References

News Citations

  1. Novartis to Partner with Banner Health on ApoE4 Prevention Trial

Therapeutics Citations

  1. Umibecestat

Paper Citations

  1. . Safety, tolerability, and antibody response of active Aβ immunotherapy with CAD106 in patients with Alzheimer's disease: randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, first-in-human study. Lancet Neurol. 2012 Jul;11(7):597-604. Epub 2012 Jun 6 PubMed.
  2. . Long-term treatment with active Aβ immunotherapy with CAD106 in mild Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2015;7(1):23. Epub 2015 Apr 27 PubMed.
  3. . Active Aβ immunotherapy CAD106 in Alzheimer's disease: A phase 2b study. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2017 Jan;3(1):10-22. Epub 2016 Dec 23 PubMed.
  4. . Establishing Composite Cognitive Endpoints for Use in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Trials. J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2015 Mar;2(1):2-3. PubMed.
  5. . The Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Generation Program: Study design of two randomized controlled trials for individuals at risk for clinical onset of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2019;5:216-227. Epub 2019 Jun 12 PubMed.
  6. . Outreach, Screening, and Randomization of APOE ε4 Carriers into an Alzheimer's Prevention Trial: A global Perspective from the API Generation Program. J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2023;10(3):453-463. PubMed.
  7. . Effects of the active amyloid beta immunotherapy CAD106 on PET measurements of amyloid plaque deposition in cognitively unimpaired APOE ε4 homozygotes. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Mar;20(3):1839-1850. Epub 2023 Dec 25 PubMed.
  8. . Can Alzheimer disease be prevented by amyloid-beta immunotherapy?. Nat Rev Neurol. 2010 Feb;6(2):108-19. PubMed.
  9. . The second-generation active Aβ immunotherapy CAD106 reduces amyloid accumulation in APP transgenic mice while minimizing potential side effects. J Neurosci. 2011 Jun 22;31(25):9323-31. PubMed.

External Citations

  1. ClinicalTrials.gov
  2. see financial report
  3. clinicaltrials.gov

Further Reading