Intellect Neurosciences Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, has filed two United States and one international patent application regarding passive and active immunotherapy approaches targeting abnormal forms of tau protein that lead to death of nerve cells in Alzheimer's disease.

Intellect's new approach specifically targets neoepitopes that are formed following cleavage of intact tau protein by "executioner" caspases. This pathological process is stimulated by an accumulation of amyloid beta in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. It is believed that the smaller cleaved tau, sometimes referred to as delta tau, is especially toxic and prone to form tangles inside nerve cells. Importantly, Intellect's approach uses antibodies to clear this more toxic form, without risk of interfering with the functions of normal intact tau protein.

“These new patent filings continue to demonstrate our leadership in translational Alzheimer's research and ongoing commitment to develop improved next-generation drug products,” said Dr Daniel G Chain, Intellect's chairman & CEO. “We are encouraged by the results of two recent studies conducted by independent groups from Columbia University and Harvard Medical School suggesting that tau may cause Alzheimer's disease to spread through the brain. Their findings indicate that an antibody approach may halt that spread, which supports our strategy of a combined vaccine against beta amyloid and delta tau that may potentially eliminate the disease.”

Intellect Neuroscience is investigating the combination of its new technology for which it has filed the recent patents with its RECALL-VAX active vaccine platform, which was originally developed to target neoepitopes in amyloid beta.  The company has manufactured a combination test vaccine from its RECALL-VAX platform, RV03, to target both beta amyloid and delta tau, which are increasingly understood to act in concert with synergistic effects in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. The company is embarking on a series of preclinical studies with RV03, using brain imaging and other translational tools to test both safety and efficacy to facilitate design of future clinical trials.

Intellect Neurosciences Inc. develops innovative approaches aimed at arresting or preventing Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases especially focused on proteinopathies.