mAb reduces amyloid plaques without hemorrhage; plus Dyno and Ally’s AAV technologies and more

Alzheimer’s disease immunotherapy reduces β-amyloid without increasing brain bleeding
Published in Science Translational Medicine, Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers led by David Holtzman found that an anti-APOE antibody, HAE-4, reduced β-amyloid deposition without increasing cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)-induced brain hemorrhages in mice expressing human APOE4. The hemorrhages are a component of the amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) that have dogged clinical trials of amyloid-targeting therapies, both for the safety risks they pose to patients and for the selective unblinding of patients in the treatment arm that can introduce bias into the results. Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) reported an overall ARIA incidence of 30.7% in Phase III trials of its Alzheimer’s therapy aducanumab.

Papers detail AAV techs from two George Church newcos
Two papers describe AAV technology from Dyno Therapeutics Inc. and Ally Therapeutics Inc., a stealthy newco backed by Arch Venture Partners, Alta Partners and UCB Ventures.
A Science Translational Medicine study by researchers from Ally and the lab of co-founder and Harvard University Professor George Church described engineering AAV vectors to be less immunogenic by incorporating DNA oligos that antagonize TLR9 activation...