ProMIS Neurosciences issues white paper entitled "Results from recent Alzheimer's disease trials validate the ProMIS approach"

TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2017 /CNW/ - ProMIS Neurosciences ("ProMIS" or the "Company"), a company focused on discovery and development of precision treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced it has issued a scientific white paper entitled "Results from recent Alzheimer's disease trials validate the ProMIS approach." This is one of a series of commentaries from ProMIS's scientific team offering insight into the Company's product portfolio and Alzheimer's disease (AD) science in the popular press.

The white paper discusses the recent late-stage clinical trial failures of Eli Lilly's solanezumab, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) mainly targeting Amyloid beta (Ab) monomers, and Merck's verubecestat, a small molecule BACE inhibitor that blocks the cleavage of amyloid precursor protein, thereby significantly reducing the formation of Ab monomers in the brain.

Commenting on the results of the failed clinical trials, Dr. Johanne Kaplan, ProMIS Chief Development Officer stated, "Both approaches, which mainly target Ab monomers failed to show clinically significant cognitive benefit as they failed to engage toxic Ab oligomers, which propagate in a prion-like manner and are the primary drivers of neurodegeneration and cognitive decline in AD patients." 

Conversely, Biogen's monoclonal antibody aducanumab, which binds Ab oligomers and plaque, reduced cognitive decline in a Phase 1b trial. Binding to plaque however, was associated with dose-dependent toxicity (brain edema, or ARIA-E), which limits the therapeutic window for this antibody.  

The white paper concludes that human clinical data to date are supportive of the ProMIS approach of selectively targeting soluble toxic Aβ oligomers. "We believe our approach will lead to best in class therapy as selectively targeting the toxic prion-like Aβ oligomers maximizes efficacy by avoiding off target binding to non-pathogenic Aβ monomers, and decreases the risk of edema and vascular adverse events associated with plaque binding," stated Dr. Elliot Goldstein, ProMIS President & CEO.

About ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc.

The mission of ProMIS Neurosciences is to discover and develop precision medicine therapeutics for effective treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease and ALS.

ProMIS Neurosciences' proprietary target discovery engine is based on the use of two, complementary techniques. The Company applies its thermodynamic, computational discovery platform—ProMIS^™ and Collective Coordinates — to predict novel targets known as Disease Specific Epitopes (DSEs) on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique "precision medicine" approach, ProMIS Neurosciences is developing novel antibody therapeutics and specific companion diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease and ALS. The company has also developed two proprietary technologies to specifically identify very low levels of misfolded proteins in a biological sample. In addition, ProMIS Neurosciences owns a portfolio of therapeutic and diagnostic patents relating to misfolded SOD1 in ALS, and currently has a preclinical monoclonal antibody therapeutic against this target.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release may contain certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information, and to access the white paper, please consult the Company's website at: www.promisneurosciences.com

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SOURCE ProMIS Neurosciences Inc.

NATIONAL Equicom, Abby Garfunkel, Tel. [phone], [email protected]; or contact Dr. Elliot Goldstein, President and Chief Executive Officer, ProMIS Neurosciences Inc., Tel. [phone], [email protected]