Prima, Prana to team on Alzheimer's vaccine

Melbourne biotechs Prima BioMed and Prana Biotechnology will collaborate on a project to develop a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease, the companies announced today.

The project will combine Prima subsidiary PanVax's DCtag vaccine technology with proteins and peptide extracts associated with Alzheimer's disease, and will look at the feasibility of developing a vaccine effective at preventing or slowing the onset of Alzheimer's disease, as well as the use of antibodies as a treatment for the disease.

DCtag is a novel adjuvant that effectively delivers vaccine antigens to dendritic cells, marshalling both antibody and cellular immune responses. It has already shown promise as an immunotherapy and a vaccine targeting malaria and cancer.

Scientists at Prana and the University of Melbourne have found that the interaction of metals such as copper, zinc and iron with beta-amyloid is involved with the development of Alzheimer's disease, and are developing treatments based on metal protein attenuating compounds (MPAC) to treat the disease.

But Prana was also awarded a Biotechnology Innovation Fund grant of $250,000 by the Federal government in May to investigate immunotherapeutic approaches to Alzheimer's disease.

Prima business development manager Vanessa Waddell said Prana, which was interested in the DCtag adjuvant, approached Prima to spark the deal.

"Alzheimer's disease wasn't an area we had contemplated," she said. "It's an interesting new project for us."

The collaboration will have Prana providing protein and peptide extracts for PanVax scientists at the Austin Research Institute to conjugate to the DCtag adjuvant. PanVax researchers will conduct some testing of the resulting vaccine, while Prana and the University of Melbourne will carry out studies in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

The proof-of-concept project will be completed by the end of 2004, and the two companies will jointly share in the benefit of any intellectual property developed during the collaboration.

However, the project will not be without its challenges, as previous attempts by US scientists to trial an Alzheimer's disease vaccine in human patients have been hampered by the development of brain inflammation.

Prima raises $2.7 million

Meanwhile, Prima BioMed has raised AUD$2.7 million in a private placement to institutional and sophisticated investors who are clients of Peregrine Corporate.

The news comes a couple of days after the company responded to a 'please explain' letter from the ASX about their low cash reserves.

Business development manager Vanessa Waddell said that the company now had sufficient cash reserves to take them through at least mid-2004, and would allow them to bring forward some projects.