New Mexico researchers develop vaccine that could prevent Alzheimer's disease

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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Researchers at the University of New Mexico have developed a vaccine that could prevent Alzheimer's disease. It's only a matter of time before you start testing it on people,

Kiran Bhaskar is passionate about studying Alzheimer's disease over the past ten years. As an associate professor in the Department of Health and Science of the UNM, he states that the search for a treatment began with an idea in 2013.

"I would say that it took about five years or so to understand where the idea came from and get the vaccine working fully," he said.

Bhaskar and his team started testing the vaccine on mice.

"We used a group of mice with Alzheimer's disease and we injected them after a series of injections," says Nicole Maphis.

Nicole Maphis, a PhD student, said the vaccine was created to target a specific protein that is commonly found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

"What we chose to pursue was a specific region of tau protein, as you saw the pathological tau, the red structures that are common in Alzheimer's disease." We wanted to make a vaccine against it ", says Maphis.

Maphis was pleased to see the results.

"These antibodies seem to have eliminated the pathological tau.The pathological tau is one of the components of these tangles that are found in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease," she says. .

The mice then went through a series of labyrinth-like tests. Mice that received the vaccine had much better results than those that did not.

Despite this, Maphis and Bhaskar say it's not a complete success yet. Being able to vaccinate people will not only take a few more years, but can cost up to a billion dollars.

"We need to make sure we have a clinical version of the vaccine so we can perform tests on people," Bhaskar said.

To test only a small group, the Department of Health Sciences would cost $ 2 million. Currently, Maphis and Bhaskar are looking for partnerships to help them achieve their goal of getting a clinical grade vaccine.

Once they have developed a safe vaccine for humans, they will have to submit it to the FDA for approval. It could take another five years.