Publish date: 20 December 2024

UCLH has recruited the first patient to a global study of a new drug in early development, called NI0752, which is thought to reduce the production of a protein in the brain called tau.

People with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have a build-up of tau proteins in the brain which stick together and become tangled. These ‘tangles’ damage the internal structure of nerve cells affecting how they work and eventually causing them to die. This leads to brain tissue damage and a decline in memory and thinking.

Dr Ross Paterson is leading the NIO-SILK study at UCLH, which is sponsored by UCL. He is a Principal Research Fellow at UCL Institute of Neurology and consultant neurologist at the UCLH National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. Patients at UCLH will have the study medication and study tests at the NIHR UCLH Clinical Research Facility at Queen Square, with the study supported by the NIHR UCLH Biomedical.

The main aim of this trial is to measure how much N10753 can reduce the rate of tau production in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Tau levels will be measured in a new way that is expected to be more sensitive in detecting proteins using a special type of essential amino acid called leucine.

Ten people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease are being invited to join this trial.  In addition to UCLH, a site in the USA is supporting the trial. 

The trial is co-ordinated through the Dementia Translational Research Collaboration Trials Network, which is hosted at UCLH and led by Prof Cath Mummery, a UCLH consultant neurologist and dementia researcher at UCL.

Dr Paterson said: “We are proud to recruit the first participant in this global trial. This research is at an early stage, but we believe there is promise in targeting tau in the brain and we hope to be able to accurately measure how much tau production is impacted. 

Professor Catherine Mummery said: “The aim of our dementia trials network hosted at UCLH is to develop early phase trials of innovative new drugs for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and this trial is an example of the type of trial we want to push forward. We are at an exciting time in dementia research, and while we are making progress in therapies targeting amyloid, it is vital we take a multi-pronged approach and also explore treatments such as those looking at tau.”

University College London (UCL) are the sponsor of the trial. The Joint Research Office (JRO) at UCL and UCLH provided the specialist knowledge and expertise to enable this study to be set up.  The JRO is supported by the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.

The study is funded by the Alzheimer’s Association and the Sigrid Rausing Trust (UCL Neurogenetic Therapies Programme).

Find out more about dementia trials and other research at the Dementia Research Centre or email drctrialenquiries@ucl.ac.uk.