This year's annual Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD 2008) will take place on July 26 through 31 in Chicago, Illinois.

The conference will be a unique one, with the first scientific presentations of Phase II data from antibodies specifically targeting amyloid beta (Aß), bapineuzumab and LY2062430. Details from the bapineuzumab study are the most highly awaited, to assess robustness of the top-line results that were already released. Data on whether there is evidence that LY2062430 can dissolve plaques clinically, even though it only targets soluble Aß, could impact views on the relative merits of different types of Aß antibodies. Additional Phase II data will also be presented from the pooled-plasma product, Gammagard, along with information on the type of anti- Aß antibodies it contains.

The validity of the hypothesis that Aß is the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) could well be another major point of discussion at the conference, since data will be presented that some patients who received the Aß vaccine AN-1792 showed deterioration despite clearance of Aß plaques, as well as from the failed trial of another drug impacting Aß, flurizan. In this regard, there should be interesting data from a formulation of methylthioninium chloride, which supposedly prevents the aggregation of tau proteins, another putative mechanism in AD.

Though top-line data for a number of other drugs with a variety of different mechanisms has already been released (PBT-2, Dimebon, GSK742457, PRX-03140, CTS-21166, and AL-108), Phase II data to be presented at ICAD could provide more insight into their prospects. Finally, early stage data will also be presented on a new Aß vaccine, CAD106, which was designed to avoid immunogenic side effects seen with AN-1792, and gamma secretase inhibitors GSI-953 and BMS-708163.

We have highlighted some of the more interesting clinical studies. We have also included a list of other pertinent talks and posters.

For the full report, please download the PDF version at the top of this page.

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