NEW YORK – BioArctic has treated the first Parkinson's disease patient with exidavnemab within the randomized-controlled Phase IIa EXIST trial, the firm announced last week.
Exidavnemab is a monoclonal antibody designed to target aggregated alpha-synuclein, a protein that's known as a hallmark of Parkinson's and thought to play a role in the progression of the chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease.
By binding to and eliminating clumps of alpha-synuclein, such as oligomers and protofibrils, Stockholm-based BioArctic is betting exidavnemab can slow or stop progression of Parkinson's.
Within EXIST, which stands for EXIdavnemab Synucleinopathy Trial, BioArctic is investigating the safety and tolerability of exidavnemab. The firm plans to use a seeding amplification assay to identify patients with alpha-synuclein and enroll at least 24 patients in Europe. These patients will receive one of two doses of exidavnemab or placebo.
In previous Phase I trials of exidavnemab, conducted in collaboration with AbbVie, BioArctic found exidavnemab was well tolerated with a half-life of about 30 days.