Click to read... A new nasal vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease has cleared plaques from the brains of affected mice and will be tested in humans in 2006.They decided on a combination of glatiramer acetate (Copaxone), an approved MS drug that acts as a decoy for errant immune-system attacks, and Protollin, an adjuvant that stimulates innate immunity.

It was given as a nasal mist, a technique Weiner’s lab has had a long interest in. “And it worked,” says Weiner. The combination reduced amyloid beta in the mouse brains by 83% compared to controls.

“The results were quite striking,” says Joanne McLaurin at the University of Toronto, Canada, who has worked extensively on Alzheimer’s vaccines. The idea that inflammation might be helpful in clearing amyloid plaques was first raised a few years ago by a different team, she notes: “The idea is very interesting.”

As always, the question is whether what works in an animal model will work in humans. “Anytime you move from mouse to man there are risks,” says Weiner.