Alchemab Therapeutics excited by potential of Alzheimer’s drug candidate

Alchemab Therapeutics is hopeful that it could have a potent new Alzheimer’s drug with fewer side effects on its hands.

The antibody discovery company unveiled encouraging data on ATLX-1088, its newly-discovered preclinical candidate at the Antibody Industrial Symposium in Tours, France.

It is a potential first-in-class human antibody targeting CD33, a cell surface protein thought to play a key role in Alzheimer’s.

Studies have shown that higher expression of CD33 is associated with more advanced cognitive decline and worsening disease status.

High levels of CD33 inhibit the normal function of brain-resident immune cells called microglia, which maintain neural networks and repair damage.

Alchemab, which has labs at Babraham Research Campus and Whittlesford, is focused on identifying naturally-occurring antibodies from individuals resilient to disease and used this approach to find the CD33 target.

Starting with the body’s response to disease, rather than the target itself, its platform inverts the traditional target-led drug discovery process and uses the immune system as the search function to identify the key disease-modifying targets.

This process also means the antibodies used are naturally optimised by the immune system, which should lead to beneficial properties for the resulting therapies.

Alchemab CEO Young Kwon said: “Alchemab’s unique approach to antibody research has led to the discovery of ATLX-1088, which we hope could be a new therapy for Alzheimer’s. While there’s been progress in the Alzheimer’s field in the last few years, there’s still a tremendous need for more and better therapies, and we hope ATLX-1088 could be an important treatment option given its broad effect on microglial cell function.”

Data presented at the symposium in France last week showed ATLX-1088 results in a significant increase in the phagocytosis or removal of the toxic protein amyloid beta by microglia, which may help to restore healthy brain cell function.

Alchemab’s CD33 binding antibody has a novel mechanism and Alchemab is confident it has a favourable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile.

Jane Osbourn, chief scientific officer of Alchemab, said: “This is the first time we have revealed data from this exciting drug candidate targeting CD33.

“There’s strong evidence to show that knocking out CD33 results in lower amyloid-beta levels and reduction in amyloid plaque burden in the brain.

“We believe that ATLX-1088 could be an important step forward in treatment, potentially bringing a much-needed new therapy to patients with this debilitating disease.”