Alector, AbbVie Initiate Phase 1 for Treatment of Patients with Alzheimer’s

Alector, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALEC), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering immuno-neurology, a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of neurodegeneration, today announced the initiation of the first-in-human Phase 1 trial for AL003, called the INTERCEPT study. The study is initially investigating the safety profile, pharmacodynamics and target engagement of AL003 in healthy volunteers. AL003 is the company’s second product candidate being developed for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in collaboration with its partner AbbVie.

Alector is focused on identifying and functionally repairing genetic mutations that cause dysfunction of the brain immune system leading to neurodegeneration. Genetic mutations in the SIGLEC 3 receptor, which is expressed on the brain’s microglia cells, were shown to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by inhibiting the beneficial activity of the brain’s immune system.

“We designed AL003 to functionally counteract the SIGLEC 3 risk allele,” said Arnon Rosenthal, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Alector. “AL003, which blocks the function of SIGLEC 3, an inhibitory receptor on the microglia, conceptually acts in a similar manner to PD1 inhibitors in oncology, which block the function of an inhibitory receptor on T cells. Blocking SIGLEC 3 will enable a more robust brain immune system that can better address multiple disease-causing pathologies. and we expect this will lead to slowing or stopping of disease progression in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.”

https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/alector-initiates-phase-1-trial-of-al003-for-the-treatment-of-patients–with-alzheimers-disease-20190401-01196