LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering precision medicine for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the first non-invasive images of pathological alpha-synuclein (a-syn) in human brain and presented positive clinical proof-of-concept data for an a-syn positron emission tomography (PET) tracer as an imaging agent to identify MSA patients. The clinical trial of AC Immune’s wholly owned experimental a-syn PET tracer was conducted by the team of Oskar Hansson MD, PhD, at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, with the support of a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).

The groundbreaking images of a-syn in the human subjects’ brains were presented for the first time today at the AD/PDTM Conference plenary session in Barcelona, Spain, by Oskar Hansson MD, PhD.

Dr. Oskar Hansson, Senior Consultant in Neurology at Skåne University Hospital and Professor of Neurology at Lund University, Sweden, said: “This is the first time that a PET tracer has reliably detected a-syn aggregates in patients’ brains. The ACI-12589 patient brain scans indicate the signal specificity for a-syn in MSA patients versus healthy volunteers and patients with other a-synucleinopathies. The results represent great clinical progress in the quest to provide a diagnostic tool for patients suffering from MSA and potentially other a-synucleinopathies. This could ultimately enable earlier and more reliable differentiation for this difficult-to-diagnose neurodegenerative disease.”
Prof. Andrea Pfeifer, CEO of AC Immune SA, commented: “This first clinical validation for an a-syn PET tracer is a transformative step towards achieving our vision for developing precision medicines to treat neurodegenerative diseases. It was made possible by the close collaboration between AC Immune, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, and the MJFF. We look forward to continuing the collaboration to expand on these results in MSA and in other a-syn indications, such as Parkinson’s disease.”

Jamie Eberling, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research at MJFF, said: “We are energized by the scientific possibilities presented by these findings. Selective imaging tracers can make an enormous difference in advancement of new therapies for synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease. Our Foundation has long supported the development of these critical but elusive tools, and we are proud to see progress toward their widespread application. As they have for Alzheimer’s disease, PET tracers for a primary pathological protein would be pivotal in transforming the future of Parkinson’s research and care.”

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