Study to Assess Safety and Efficacy of PRI-002 in Patients With MCI to Mild Dementia Due to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) (PRImus-AD)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia. The post-mortem pathology of AD is mainly characterised by neurodegeneration as well as extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. Research suggests that the amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ) aggregation plays a major role in the development of AD, while Aβ oligomers are thought to be the most toxic species. Therefore, various strategies to develop AD therapeutics address Aβ and some examples include trying to reduce its formation, inhibit its aggregation to fibrils or enhancing its clearance.

PRI-002 is being investigated as a possible treatment for cognitive impairment due to AD. PRI-002 is an all D-amino acid peptide (all-D-peptide) consisting of a rationally designed primary structure, resulting in efficient removal of Aβ oligomers. PRI-002 specifically aims to eliminate neurotoxic Aβ oligomers by disassembling prion-like behaving Aβ oligomers into non-toxic Aβ monomer units. This therapeutic principle is new and unique and differs from that of other amyloid related drug candidates currently in clinical development, which aim to increase the degradation rate of different Aβ species.

The current trial is a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study to further investigate the safety and efficacy of PRI-002 in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia due to AD.