VT Bio "Accelerating Development of Alzheimer's Disease Treatment Using Immune Cells"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] VT GMP affiliate VT Bio announced on the 28th that it is accelerating the development of a treatment for Alzheimer's disease using regulatory T cells, which are key immune-modulating cells.

Alzheimer's disease is a condition that causes memory and cognitive decline, and there is currently no fundamental cure. Recently, an antibody treatment called Aduhelm has been approved by the FDA and is on the market, but the treatment market is facing difficulties due to adverse reactions and questions about its effectiveness.

Recently, suspicions have been raised that a paper by Dr. Salvan Lesn? of the University of Minnesota, published in the journal Nature in 2006, which supports the "amyloid hypothesis"?a leading theory on the cause of Alzheimer's disease?was fabricated. After investigation, it was found highly likely to be true. This paper is said to be the most cited in Alzheimer's disease research.

Although antibody treatments targeting beta-amyloid have secured clinical results in eliminating beta-amyloid, they have shown poor outcomes in improving cognitive function. Therefore, academia and the medical community strongly suggest that new biomarkers or mechanisms for Alzheimer's disease need to be identified.

VT Bio's Alzheimer's treatment VT301 focuses on the disease cause of Alzheimer's being a condition caused by excessive immune activity and emphasizes regulating microglia, which play a key role in immune activity occurring in the brain. Currently, VT301 is completing Phase 1 clinical trials in Korea and has received approval for Phase 1/2a clinical trials in the United States.

Until now, Alzheimer's disease was recognized as a nonspecific secondary phenomenon caused by nerve cell destruction due to beta-amyloid. However, with advances in molecular biology, research identifying mediators of immune-inflammatory mechanisms and their functions has shown that immune responses act from the early stages and actively participate in the survival and death of nerve cells.

Microglia are a type of glial cell and small brain cells that make up about 15% of the brain. These cells were known as immune cells of the central nervous system specialized in handling pathogens invading the brain or waste from brain cells. Attention increased when it was discovered that microglia are involved in synaptic pruning, the process of eliminating unused synapses, i.e., connections between neurons, and further research revealed their direct involvement in nerve cell regeneration and protection. Regulatory T cells, a type of immune cell, greatly influence microglia to have cell-protective effects, and this effect has been confirmed in several animal experiments conducted independently.

A company official stated, "Since cell movement through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was previously considered impossible, it was difficult to explain T cell infiltration into the brain, but it has been confirmed through animal models that T cells move via the choroid plexus, a granule-shaped plexus that secretes cerebrospinal fluid into the brain ventricles." He added, "VT Bio's animal distribution experiments also confirmed movement into the brain."

VT Bio has secured cell freezing conditions that place the least burden on cells during freezing, which is the biggest obstacle in cell therapy, and that allow cells to be administered to patients. In addition, it is continuously accumulating research results on phenotypic changes of regulatory T cells. Furthermore, the company plans to comprehensively analyze future clinical trial results to increase the possibility of developing an Alzheimer's treatment based on immune activity.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.