In Bid to Whip Alzheimer's, Israeli Scientists Use Immune System to Repair Brain

Israeli biopharmaceutical startup ImmunoBrain Checkpoint (IBC) has developed an immune system-boosting antibody in order to realize a breakthrough treatment for Alzheimer's disease, reports the Times of Israel . The firm intends to initiate clinical trials in 2021. IBC claims the therapy is the first of its kind that taps the body's immune system to help repair the brain, and is based on 22 years of research by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science. In September, IBC announced that the Alzheimer's Association gave it $1 million under the 2020 Part the Cloud-Bill Gates Partnership Grant Program to support the Phase I clinical trial, which will examine the safety and activity of the IBC-Ab002 antibody. Weitzmann Professor Michal Schwartz led the research upon which the antibody was based, which she said can neutralize "one of the mechanisms that keeps the immune system under tight control. The key is to release such brakes modestly, at an optimal level," in order to prevent the side effects of overactivation. Schwartz said tests with animal models with Alzheimer's and dementia showed the antibody elicited a "robust improvement in cognition and a reduction of the pathology," with the effect extended to all the multiple toxic compounds that accumulated in the brain, "thus addressing the multi-factorial nature of the diseases and their heterogeneity among patients."