Roche plans clinical trial with MorphoSys' HuCAL-derived Alzheimer antibody

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Jan. 25 - MorphoSys AG said Wednesday that its partner, Roche, has filed all necessary applications to begin a European phase 1 clinical trial with a HuCAL-derived antibody to treat Alzheimer's disease.

The HuCAL antibody targets abnormal build-ups of amyloid beta protein in cerebral tissue, which are typical of Alzheimer's patients, and is intended to help remove them, according to a company news release.

The applications filing to start clinical trials triggers a clinical milestone payment from Roche to MorphoSys, officials said. Further financial details were not disclosed.

In preclinical tests, the fully human antibody showed high affinity binding to amyloid beta plaques and was able to bind specifically to amyloid plaques in human brain tissue samples taken from Alzheimer's patients.

And the binding of the antibody dissolved aggregations of amyloid beta molecules in an in vitro assay, officials said.

The HuCAL antibody was further tested in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. After systemic administration, the antibody was shown to cross the blood-brain barrier and to bind to amyloid beta plaques within the brain, officials said.

International Alzheimer's research sees the breakdown of amyloid beta formations as a promising starting point toward treatment. And removal of the accumulations has been linked to an increase in correct cognitive functioning.

"We are very proud to take a fully human antibody identified with MorphoSys' HuCAL technology into the clinic. This is an important and innovative step toward the treatment of Alzheimer's disease with a new class of medicines," Andrew Sleight, head of central nervous system research at Roche, said in the release.

MorphoSys, based in Munich, Germany, develops and applies technologies for the production of synthetic antibodies that accelerate drug discovery and target characterization. The company's proprietary Human Combinatorial Antibody Library (HuCAL) technology is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation.

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