Press Release Details

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU), a Swiss-based, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a broad pipeline focused on neurodegenerative diseases, will host a key opinion leader (KOL) webinar on alpha-synuclein (a-syn) as a target in neurodegenerative diseases on March 29^th at 10:00 AM ET / 4:00 PM CET.

The webinar will feature a presentation from KOL Oskar Hansson MD, PhD, of Skåne University Hospital, and Lund University. During his presentation, Dr. Hansson will discuss the importance of biomarkers and precision medicine in Alzheimer’s disease and alpha-synucleinopathies (e.g. multiple system atrophy), as well as the first clinical proof-of-concept data for AC Immune’s a-syn positron emission tomography (PET) tracer, which were recently presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases (AD/PD™).

Additionally, members of the AC Immune management team will provide an overview of the Company’s clinical stage a-syn targeted therapeutic and diagnostic candidates. These are the most advanced programs in our extensive portfolio of complementary assets that covers the full spectrum of treatment modalities targeting a-syn including:

• ACI-7104, a Phase 2 vaccine for Parkinson’s disease;
• ACI-12589, a clinical stage PET tracer for various alpha-synucleinopathies;
• A preclinical antibody derived using the SupraAntigen^® platform; and
• A discovery stage small molecule drug derived using the Morphomer^® platform.

Together, these programs will enable a precision medicine approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases driven by a-syn misfolding and aggregation.

Following the formal presentation, Dr. Hansson and company management will be available for a live question and answer session.

To register for the webinar, please click here. The materials from the presentation and a replay of the webinar will be available on the Events Page of AC Immune’s website following its conclusion.

KOL Biography
Oskar Hansson MD, PhD, earned his PhD in neurobiology in 2001 and his MD in 2005. He became a senior consultant in neurology at Skåne University Hospital (Sweden) in 2012 and a full professor of neurology at Lund University (Sweden) in 2017. Dr. Hansson has performed internationally recognized clinical and translational research focusing on the earliest phases of Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s diseases.

Dr. Hansson’s landmark 2006 study on cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (Hansson et al, The Lancet Neurology, 2006) has been instrumental for the implementation of these biomarkers in the clinical work-up of Alzheimer's disease in Sweden and internationally.

His work on biomarkers has led to over 350 original peer-reviewed publications. Ten years ago, he started the prospective and longitudinal Swedish BioFINDER study (www.biofinder.se), which focuses on the development of optimized diagnostic algorithms, and also studies the consequences of different brain pathologies on cognitive, neurologic and psychiatric symptoms in healthy individuals and patients with dementia and parkinsonian disorders. Recently, the BioFINDER team has shown that Tau PET imaging can distinguish Alzheimer’s from all other neurodegenerative diseases (JAMA, 2018) and detect different subtypes of Alzheimer’s (Nature Medicine 2021) with high accuracy. The team has also developed and validated blood-based biomarkers for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (Nature Medicine, 2020; JAMA, 2020, Nature Aging 2021, Nature Medicine 2021). 

Besides being responsible for the outpatient ward of the Memory Clinic at Skåne University Hospital, Dr. Hansson is also in leading positions of several research networks and is co-director of the strategic research area of neuroscience at Lund University.

About AC Immune SA 
AC Immune SA is clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that aims to become a global leader in precision medicine for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and NeuroOrphan indications driven by misfolded proteins. The Company’s two clinically validated technology platforms, SupraAntigen^® and Morphomer^®, fuel its broad and diversified pipeline of first- and best-in-class assets, which currently features ten therapeutic and three diagnostic candidates, six of which are currently in clinical trials. AC Immune has a strong track record of securing strategic partnerships with leading global pharmaceutical companies including Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Eli Lilly and Company, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., resulting in substantial non-dilutive funding to advance its proprietary programs and >$3 billion in potential milestone payments.

SupraAntigen^® is a registered trademark of AC Immune SA in the following territories: AU, EU, CH, GB, JP and RU. Morphomer^® is a registered trademark of AC Immune SA in CN, CH, GB, JP, and NO.

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Forward looking statements
This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical fact and may include statements that address future operating, financial or business performance or AC Immune’s strategies or expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “potential,” “outlook” or “continue,” and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include those described under the captions “Item 3. Key Information – Risk Factors” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” in AC Immune’s Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These include: the impact of Covid-19 on our business, suppliers, patients and employees and any other impact of Covid-19. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and AC Immune does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable law. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Source: AC Immune SA