August 5, 2009 - Ichor Medical Systems (Ichor) of San Diego announced that it has been selected to receive a $3.3 million grant award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for development of a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease. Ichor is collaborating on the project with Dr. Michael Agadjanyan, Vice President and Head of Immunology at the Institute for Molecular Medicine (IMM), Huntington Beach, CA; Dr. David H. Cribbs, Professor, Department of Neurology and Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders at the University of California, Irvine (UCI); and Dr. Ruth Mulnard, Associate Professor of Neurology and Associate Director, Institute for Clinical Translational Science at UCI.In the last few years the laboratories of Dr. Agadjanyan and Dr. Cribbs have designed and evaluated DNA-based vaccines for Alzheimer’s disease. In mice genetically engineered to model Alzheimer's disease, these vaccines slowed the development of pathology and reduced behavioral deficits. Building upon these promising research findings, Ichor will evaluate its proprietary TriGrid™ electroporation technology for delivery of DNA vaccines encoding proteins implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
The objective of this approach is to induce antibody responses that slow down progression of Alzheimer’s disease, or if vaccination is initiated early enough, could even prevent disease development. The plan funded by the NINDS includes the studies required to support eventual initiation of human clinical testing of this approach... [PDF] Ichor Medical Systems' Press Release -
