A Clinical Trial of AAV2-BDNF Gene Therapy in Early Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Summary

This is a first-in-human clinical trial to test whether a protein administered into the brain continuously by gene therapy, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), will slow or prevent cell loss in the brains of people affected by Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. The protein may also activate cells in the brain that have not yet deteriorated. Gene therapy refers to the use of a harmless virus to have brain cells make the potentially protective protein, BDNF.

Timeline

Start

2022-02-07

Primary completion

2028-07-01

Completion

2028-07-01

Publications

• Results Nagahara AH, Merrill DA, Coppola G, Tsukada S, Schroeder BE, Shaked GM, Wang L, Blesch A, Kim A, Conner JM, Rockenstein E, Chao MV, Koo EH, Geschwind D, Masliah E, Chiba AA, Tuszynski MH. Neuroprotective effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in rodent and primate models of Alzheimer's disease. Nat Med. 2009 Mar;15(3):331-7. doi: 10.1038/nm.1912. Epub 2009 Feb 8.
• Results Nagahara AH, Tuszynski MH. Potential therapeutic uses of BDNF in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2011 Mar;10(3):209-19. doi: 10.1038/nrd3366.
• Results Nagahara AH, Mateling M, Kovacs I, Wang L, Eggert S, Rockenstein E, Koo EH, Masliah E, Tuszynski MH. Early BDNF treatment ameliorates cell loss in the entorhinal cortex of APP transgenic mice. J Neurosci. 2013 Sep 25;33(39):15596-602. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5195-12.2013.
• Results Tuszynski MH, Yang JH, Barba D, U HS, Bakay RA, Pay MM, Masliah E, Conner JM, Kobalka P, Roy S, Nagahara AH. Nerve Growth Factor Gene Therapy: Activation of Neuronal Responses in Alzheimer Disease. JAMA Neurol. 2015 Oct;72(10):1139-47. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.1807.
• Tuszynski MH. Growth Factor Gene Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2024;101(s1):S433-S441. doi: 10.3233/JAD-240545.

Drugs

Indications