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There is special news for Alzheimer’s patients. It is reported that the College of the University of London has discovered a special kind of drug or rather a therapy to control Alzheimer’s disease. This is named ‘Gene Silencing’. This special type of drug BIIB080 (IONIS-MAPTRx) will dissolve in the patient’s gene and then slowly start showing its effect. Simply put, it would deliver an adequate amount of protein into the patient’s veins. A team from the College of London University has been doing research on this for a long time. He recently used ‘gene silencing’ on Alzheimer’s and dementia patients and saw that the effect of this drug is visible in the patients.
tau protein
The name of the drug used in this therapy is BIIB080 (IONIS-MAPTRx). In this therapy, the level of a protein called tau in the body is increased according to the need. For your information, let us tell you that the protein flowing in the veins is known as Protein Tau (MAPT) gene. A single dose of this medicine prevents tau protein from multiplying in the gene and keeps it under control.
According to Dr Catherine Mummery (UCL Queen’s), from the Squire Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and consultant neurologist, we still need to do more research to understand exactly how this drug is affecting the disease. And gradually recovers the movement of the body. There is a large group suffering from this disease. But it can definitely be said that better results are being seen from this medicine. This would be an important step in the field of this disease. We have been successful in controlling the overproduction of tau protein through gene silencing with this drug therapy. Along with Alzheimer’s, whatever disease is caused by the increase of tau protein, we can easily treat it with this therapy.
Tested on patients of this age
The Phase I trial looked at the safety of BIIB080, what it does in the body and how well it affects the MAPT gene. In total, the drug was tested on 46 patients with an average age of 66 years. This happened from the year 2017 to 2020. In this, injections were given in the spinal code. So that the effect of the drug is on the nervous system. According to the report published in Nature Medicine Journal, the effect of the drug is visible on the patients. He has given a very good response. All the patients completed the treatment period and more than 90 per cent are still on treatment.
Mild side effects of the drug were observed in the patients
Mild side effects of the drug were also observed in the patients. Headache is most common after injection of the drug. However, no serious adverse effects were observed in patients given the drug. The research team divided the patients into two groups and gave one group a higher dose of the drug and the other a lower one. They found that levels of total tau and phosphor tau concentration in the CNS decreased by more than 50 percent after 24 weeks in the two treatment groups receiving the highest dose of the drug.