touchSYMPOSIUM HIGHLIGHTS Advances in the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
Watch leading experts discuss advances in the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in this engaging symposium, originally presented at the Spanish Neurological Society.
Welcome and introductions
Plasma biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease
Presentation of ARACLON biomarkers
ABvac40: a preventive vaccine for Alzheimer's disease
Questions and discussion
Overview & Learning Objectives
Overview
In this activity, four leading experts in Alzheimer’s disease come together at the Spanish Neurology Society Annual Meeting 2023 to examine the latest developments of plasma biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease, and to review and discuss two assets from ARACLON-Biotech, a company specializing in the research and development of methods for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of Alzheimer’s disease:
- The ABtest-MS, a Mass Spectrometry blood-based biomarker test that allows the simultaneous determination of Aβ40 and Aβ42 in plasma. In addition, with the inclusion of APOE genotype and the age of the patient in a predictive model, ABtest-MS estimates the probability of amyloid brain deposition for each subject, and
- The ABvac40, an active immunotherapy against Aβ40 peptide, intended to prevent or slow the onset of AD pathology
Learning Objectives
After watching this activity, participants should be better able to:
- Evaluate recent research on AT(N) blood-based biomarkers and their use in clinical trials
- Assess clinical data for the diagnostic AD blood-based biomarker ABtest-MS test and identify its advantages and limitations
- Gain insights about the immunogenicity, safety, and efficacy results of the phase II trial of ABvac40
Faculty & Disclosures
Dr Mercè Boada
ACE Alzheimer Center Barcelona, Spain
Mercè Boada MD PhD. Neurologist. Founder and medical director of ACE Alzheimer Center Barcelona. Distinguished professor at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. Member of the Executive Committee of the EADC (European Alzheimer’s Disease Consortium). Her research interest is around the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, especially in the genotype and phenotype of common degenerative diseases, biomarkers for biological classification, and the design of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. She has led more than 105 clinical trials since 1996.
Dr Boada’s contributions to academia and research are extensive. She has published over 587 articles since 1995, with an impact factor (I.F.) in the last five years of 344.40 and a current h-index of 67. Additionally, she has authored 50 book chapters and 24 medical books. Among other awards, Dr Boada was awarded the highest honour conferred by the Catalan Government – the “Creu de Sant Jordi” (Cross of St. George) for her career in the field of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Mercè Boada discloses:
Consulting fees from: Grifols, Araclon Biotech, Roche, Biogen, Lilly, Merck, and Zambon.
Advisory Boards: Grifols, Roche, Lilly, Araclon Biotech , Merck, Zambon, Biogen, Novo-Nordisk, Bioiberica, Eisai, Servier, and Schwabe Pharma.
Lectures: Roche, Biogen, Grifols, Nutricia, Araclon Biotech, Servier, and Novo-Nordisk.
Funding Sources from: Life Molecular Imaging and Bioiberica.
Grants from: CIBERNED (Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), EU/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking, ADAPTED Grant No. 115975, from EXIT project, EU Euronanomed3 Program JCT2017 Grant No. AC17/00100, MOPEAD, Innovative Medicine Initiative, Grant. Nº. 115985, PreDADQoL, ERA-NET (call 2015). Grant nº AC15/00082, TARTAGLIA, Red federada para accelerar la aplicación de la inteligencia artificial en el sistema sanitario español, dentro del marco del Programa Misiones IA (2021), PREADAPT project. Joint Program for Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND) Grant No. AC19/00097, And from grants PI13/02434, PI16/01861 BA19/00020, and PI19/01301, European Marie Sklodowska Curie. Acción Estratégica en Salud, integrated in the Spanish National RCDCI Plan and financed by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)- Subdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER – “Una manera de Hacer Europa”), by Fundació “La Caixa” and Grífols (GR@ACE project).”
Dr Alberto Lleó
Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain
Albert Lleó MD, PhD. Neurologist. He is Head of the Neurology Service of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona, Spain).
Dr Lleó leads a translational research group composed of 35 members, several national and international projects funded by public and private organizations, and is principal investigator of several international consortia and is an associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Dr. Alberto Lleó discloses:
Consultation fees from: Eisai, Fujirebio-Europe, Grifols, Lilly, Novartis, Roche Diagnostics, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Nutricia, NovoNordisk, Zambón, and Biogen.
Speaker fees from: Lilly, Biogen, KRKA, Novartis, and Zambon. Co-author of a patent on synaptopathy markers in neurodegenerative diseases (Nº: EP18382175.0, PCT/EP2019/056535).
Dr José Antonio Allué
ARACLON, Zaragoza, Spain
José Antonio Allué PhD. Pharmacist and Head of the Mass Spectrometry Department at Araclon Biotech-Grifols (Zaragoza, Spain).
Dr Allué has 25 years of experience in the application of Biological Mass Spectrometry in R+D, in fields such as immunology, metabolism and pharmacology and 15 years of experience in the field of biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, mainly in beta-amyloid peptides.
Dr José Antonio Allué discloses: Dr José Antonio Allué is a full-time employee at Araclon Biotech-Grifols.
Dr Gerard Piñol
Hosp. Univ. Santa Maria, Lleida, Spain
Gerard Piñol MD, PhD. Neurologist. He works as Coordinator of the Cognitive Disorders Unit and is president of the Research Committee of the Santa Maria University Hospital in Lleida (Lleida, Spain). He is also Associate Professor of Experimental Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lleida.
Dr Piñol has been the author of the Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease of the Catalan Society of Neurology and a researcher in different dementia clinical trials, as well as the author of multiple articles, book chapters and communications at congresses. He has also been working on the Phase II study of ARACLON’s ABvac40 vaccine.
Dr Gerard Piñol-Ripoll discloses:
Consulting fees from: Grifols, Araclon Biotech, Esteve, Ferrer.
Grants from: H2020, Instituto Carlos III, PERIS, La Marató TV3, Diputació Lleida.