By Marta Falconi
ZURICH--Swiss biotech company AC Immune said on Monday it had
struck a deal potentially worth $509 million with a unit of Johnson
& Johnson (JNJ) to develop vaccines against Alzheimer's
disease, the most common form of dementia.
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will help further develop AC
Immune's leading therapeutic vaccine, dubbed ACI-35, the
Lausanne-based company said. The vaccine is currently in an
early-stage clinical trial.
The vaccine works by stimulating the patient's immune system to
fight accumulation of tau, a protein that builds up in the brain
and kills neurons.
An AC Immune spokeswoman declined to say how much the company
will receive in up-front payments. These tend to be small, with
subsequent payments rising as a drug achieves pre-agreed
milestones.
AC Immune, which is unlisted, also has a deal with Genentech, a
unit of Roche Holding AG, to develop an antibody that targets
another protein, beta amyloid, which is also linked to the
memory-robbing disease.
Presently no treatment exists to slow the progression of
Alzheimer's disease.
According to the U.N. World Health Organization, 35.6 million
people have dementia worldwide, with 7.7 million new cases every
year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia and
may contribute between 60% and 70% of all cases, it said.
-Write to Marta Falconi at marta.falconi@wsj.com
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