[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6013\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EVaccines to take on Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPeople in Europe are living longer than ever before and, while many of us will age gracefully, some will suffer from neurodegenerative diseases which affect our memories and motor function.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s are two of the best known neurodegenerative diseases. While the symptoms may be different, there are similarities between the underlying changes to the brain seen in each disease. Both involve the build-up of proteins in the brain and the destruction of brain cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Alzheimer\u2019s disease, there is still nothing that can halt the cognitive decline that characterises the disease, and the search for new medicines has hit a series of dead ends in recent years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimilarly, the treatments available for Parkinson\u2019s disease can help to reduce the severity of symptoms, such as shaking, but do nothing to stop the disease from worsening.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, as scientists have learned more about how the immune system works, there has been growing interest in so-called therapeutic vaccines, where vaccines are used to treat a disease rather than just protect us from it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVaccines are already widely used to prevent the spread of infectious diseases by priming the immune system to fight dangerous viruses and bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists at AFFiRiS, a small biotech company of around 100 people,\u0026nbsp;believe that the body\u2019s defence system could be trained to attack the proteins that build up in people with neurodegenerative diseases. Early studies suggest that this method could change the course of the disease \u2013 perhaps even undoing some of the damage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAFFiRiS has been at the forefront of the quest for therapeutic vaccines for chronic diseases. The company has been working with academic and industry partners across Europe as part of a number of EU-funded projects to bring new products through clinical trials \u2013 work which has given rise to cautious optimism.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Therapeutic vaccination teaches your own immune system to fight against disease. This is for people who already have the condition, but the earlier you start immunotherapy the better,\u2019 said Dr Markus Mandler, head of the Neurodegeneration Department at AFFiRiS.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECautious optimism\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s the same process as with other vaccines. You create a vaccine \u2013 a protein \u2013 and inject it into the body. Then the body will react and produce antibodies specifically directed against those proteins,\u2019 Dr Mandler explained.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Therapeutic vaccination teaches your own immune system to fight against disease.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Markus Mandler, head of the Neurodegeneration Department at AFFiRiS\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the body can reduce the damaging effects of proteins called beta-amyloid peptides, which are associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, this could radically change the prognosis for people diagnosed with the condition.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Arne von Bonin, who leads the company\u2019s pre-clinical R\u0026amp;D teams, said that while therapeutic vaccines may sound different to typical vaccines, the approach is very similar. \u2018It\u2019s just like the way you tackle influenza. You have a carrier protein to induce a T-cell (immune) response, and bound to that is a modified version of the peptides. Plus there are adjuvants to boost the immune system. In the end, it\u2019s a very typical vaccine.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis work was greatly advanced during the EU-funded MIMOVAX project, which was led by AFFiRiS. \u2018We got the vaccine through the first phase of clinical trials and found it to be safe and well tolerated,\u2019 Dr Mandler said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next stage would be to take the vaccine, known as AD03, into the second phase of testing, where it is checked on a small number of people with the diseases, and then conduct a large-scale trial to see how a broad range of patients respond to it. The company said the trials will take up to five years, and then the vaccines will need to be approved by regulators, meaning they are unlikely to be available to patients any time soon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETherapeutic vaccination holds promise too for Parkinson\u2019s disease. The SYMPATH consortium, also led by AFFiRiS, is looking at ways of reducing the build-up of alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain cells responsible for movement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir work on Parkinson\u2019s disease could also be useful for multiple system atrophy (MSA) \u2013 a fatal neurodengerative disease for which there is no cure. As part of this project, two vaccine candidates are to be tested in an early stage trial in patients suffering from Parkinson\u2019s or MSA. However, it is early days, and success in much larger clinical trials would be required before the vaccine could become available in clinics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile these vaccine and testing technologies for Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s are still a long way from the pharmacist\u2019s counter, if they live up to their promise they could radically improve the lives of Europe\u2019s ageing populations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s diseases are a major target of EU research funding. The second round of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a 10-year EUR 3.3 billion collaboration between the EU and drug companies which was \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/article\/eu-partnership-targets-top-diseases_en.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Elaunched \u003C\/a\u003Elast year, aims to produce two new medicines, either antibiotics or treatments for Alzheimer\u2019s.\u0026nbsp;The quest to understand how the brain ages is also central to the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.neurodegenerationresearch.eu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EEU Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Diseases\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 a broad pan-European initiative dedicated to tackling diseases of the brain.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EWarning signs\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ETo get the most out of therapeutic vaccines, early diagnosis is essential. In some patients with advanced neurodegeneration, it may be too late to have a significant impact on the course of the disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt present, diagnosis is made based on visible symptoms, but in future the ideal would be to have ways of predicting that neurodegeneration is likely to take place. For this to work, better tests are needed so that doctors can intervene early.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProjects such as \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/projects\/rcn\/109607_en.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMULTISYN\u003C\/a\u003E (in which AFFiRiS is a partner) are focused on finding warning signs of Parkinson\u2019s and MSA using advanced imaging technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-q8ruul6o7pwfiy4dhoaifhr945q7zjdgfzw6igpyyrg\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-Q8ruul6O7PWFIY4DhOaIFHr945Q7ZJdgFzW6IgPyyrg\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]