New vaccine hope for Down’s syndrome people at risk of Alzheimer’s

Scientists are developing a vaccine to prevent people with Down’s syndrome from developing Alzheimer’s.

Two-thirds of people with the genetic disorder will go on to have Alzheimer’s – the most common cause of dementia – before the age of 60, according to studies.

Down’s syndrome occurs in people born with an extra chromosome, which typically leads to learning difficulties and physical abnormalities.

Experts believe they are more vulnerable to the condition due to a DNA fault that limits the body’s ability to clear a toxic protein from the brain called amyloid plaque, which has long been thought to be a cause of Alzheimer’s.

Last month, the Swiss pharmaceutical firm AC Immune announced it had administered the first dose of its anti-amyloid vaccine to a patient with Down’s syndrome. It has now been given approval to expand the trial to the US in order to offer the vaccine to more people with the condition.

Swiss scientists are testing a vaccine which may protect people with Down’s syndrome from developing Alzheimer’s disease in later life

According to research, two thirds of people with Down’s syndrome go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease

If successful, further tests of the vaccine, currently called ACI-24060, will be carried out to see if it can prevent Alzheimer’s in elderly people who do not have Down’s syndrome.

The news follows last week’s US approval of an Alzheimer’s drug that works by removing amyloid plaque from the brain.

However, the medicine, called lecanemab, has been beset by controversy due to reports that it triggers severe side-effects, including brain bleeds.

Researchers believe the new vaccine is potentially a safer and more effective alternative to treatments such as lecanemab.

‘ACI-24060 holds great promise as a novel therapy that can lower amyloid plaques to delay, or perhaps even prevent, the onset of clinical dementia symptoms,’ said Professor Michael Rafii, a neurologist at the Keck School of Medicine and the principal investigator of the trial. He added: ‘I believe a vaccine has potential safety, efficacy, and logistical advantages [over lecanemab].’

Lecanemab is the first drug proven to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, which affects nearly one million people in the UK.

Given via an intravenous infusion every few weeks, studies show it can slow the degenerative brain condition by 27 per cent. However, three patients died during a trial after suffering severe side effects believed to be linked to the medication.