An Alzheimer’s disease vaccine is ready for large-scale testing, researchers have reported.
The vaccine has successfully been tested on 58 patients in Sweden, according to a report in Lancet Neurology.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, say the vaccine CAD106 could prove a "breakthrough" in treatment of the disease.
The full effect of the vaccine on the disease is not yet known – but the researchers say the trial successfully showed that the vaccine can trigger the immune system to work against the disease.
The trial was the second to test the vaccine – but the researchers say it has been modified to ensure it only affects the beta-amyloid plaques which are thought to cause the disease.
The researchers say there were no significant side-effects linked to the vaccine. Patients were just as likely to report complications if they received a dummy injection as when they received the real vaccine.
Researcher Professor Bengt Winblad said the vaccine was a "tolerable" treatment for patients with mild to moderate disease.
Lancet Neurology, online first 6 June 2012, doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70140-0
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