Acumen Announces New Alzheimer's Research Findings
Acumen announced new research findings at the International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders - AD/PD -, in Copenhagen. The data showcase efforts to advance AD treatment through three key areas which include: developing enhanced brain delivery, or EBD, methods for sabirnetug by developing bispecific antibodies that additionally target Transferrin receptors to improve drug penetration across the blood-brain barrier; evaluating novel biomarker approaches using NULISAseq technology to better monitor treatment responses in the central nervous system; and creating highly selective antibodies that specifically target toxic AbetaOs while avoiding non-toxic monomeric forms of the protein. Acumen Pharmaceuticals investigated methods to help increase the brain penetration of sabirnetug and potentially address critical limitations of traditional antibodies in treating neurological conditions. Findings demonstrate that Acumen's EBD technology utilizing TfR increases sabirnetug brain exposure while preserving target engagement as demonstrated by AbetaO selectivity. The Phase 1 INTERCEPT-AD study demonstrated clear, treatment-related biomarker changes following a brief sabirnetug administration. Acumen used the protein-multiplex NULISAseq CNS Disease Panel to measure 127 proteins reflecting amyloid and tau pathology, synaptic function, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Sabirnetug-associated effects were observed in key Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. The study identified three novel AbetaO mAbs of interest, with ACU234 demonstrating notable selectivity - approximately 21,000-fold greater affinity for oligomeric versus monomeric Abeta. ACU234 underwent further evaluation using both in vitro and in vivo models of target engagement, including staining human brain samples from AD and controls compared to known Abeta mAbs, and injection into ARTE10 transgenic mice to assess brain localization.
