Benzinga | Aug 3, 2020 07:11AM EDT

AC Immune Initiates IND-Enabling Studies For First-In-Class Antibody Targeting TDP-43 To Treat Neurodegeneration

First-in-class TDP-43 antibody developed using SurpraAntigen(tm)platform



The only TDP-43 antibody with reported in vivo activity



LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Aug. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU), a Swiss-based, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, with a broad pipeline focused on neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the initiation of investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies for the Company's first-in-class therapeutic antibody targeting TDP-43 (TAR DNA-binding protein 43). The anti-TDP-43 antibody is the first therapeutic candidate shown to mitigate TDP-43 neuropathology in vivo and the Company plans to develop the antibody for the treatment of NeuroOrphan indications.

Advancing the anti-TDP-43 antibody towards clinical development is the latest in a series of important milestones already achieved this year in the Company's cutting-edge therapeutic and diagnostic programs targeting TDP-43 -- which are amongst the most comprehensive in the field. TDP-43 pathology is strongly associated with cognitive decline and episodic memory loss in neurodegenerative diseases. Effectively slowing or stopping the spread of TDP-43 pathology throughout the brain could provide the first TDP-43 targeted therapeutic approach for treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology (FTLD-TDP), where almost half of all FTLD cases exhibit TDP-43 pathology with significant market potential for AC Immune's TDP-43 antibody. Other indications include limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE), and sub-populations of argyrophilic grain disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

Additionally, pathological aggregation of TDP-43 has emerged as an important co-pathology in Alzheimer's disease linked to disease severity and occurring in ~50% of patients. Recognition that neurodegenerative diseases are driven by a complex interplay of pathologies highlights that successful treatments and cures will likely require combination therapy powered by precision medicine. This diversified approach is pioneered by AC Immune through parallel development of highly selective therapeutics and diagnostics for established targets like Tau and Abeta alongside newer targets such as TDP-43.