Well, I don't know about anyone else, but when I read this news; I thought it's only day one of the new year and already life is better!
Not only will Affiris begin clinical trials on its new vaccine, but it looks like other pharmas are starting to take an interest in developing immunotherapy for PD. There are three things happening on the vaccine scene; Affiris, U Nebraska, and now Biogen acuires rights to develop immunotherapy for PD. The total pacakge went for a cool $427 mill. The cost alone says to me that they think they are onto something big!

Bioworld Article


The immunotherapy or vaccine aims to stop the alpha-synuclein protein from misbehaving. It has halted disease process in animal models. While this is not a cure, with something like PD that most likely has several different origins, it would be highly unlikely a one size fits all cure might be found. This is the first time ever that a treatment targets the cause of the disease. Meanwhile, the U of Nebraska is onto this but is struggling to find a pharmaceutical partner...

Well, I seem to be the only one excited by this lately but just wanted to share anyway.

Laura