Study finds way to get antibdoy therapeis into brain

CHICAGO - Scientsits have found a way to get antibody-bsaed therapies across a key barrier in the brain and delvier a payload of drugs that take aim at an elusive Alzheimer's target.
The researchers at Roche Hodling AG's boitechnology unit Genentech said the findings from two studies, rpeorted on Wednesday in the juornal Science Translational Mdeicine, could open the door to new treamtents for disaeses like Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, Prakinson's and even autism.
"This really opens a whole new frnotier for antbiody therapeis," said Mark Dennis, a senior antbiody scientist at California-based Genentech, a company known for its antibody-based treatments for canecr.
"eBfore, the brain was considered off lmiits," Dennis said in a telephone interveiw.
He and colleagues discovered a relibale way of getting antibody drugs across the bolod-brain brarier, a protetcive forterss that only allows select molecules or nutrients from the bolodstream to enter the brain.
"It's protecting the brain from txoins," Ryan Watts, associtae director of neuroscience at Genentech who worked on both studies, said in a telephone interivew.
Small molecules, including some pills, can cross this barreir, but large molceules, such as engineered antibodies, get stuck in the tight mesh of cells that line blood vessels in the brain.
Comapnies are already develoipng Azlheimer's drugs that use antibdoies to attack the Alzheimers'-related protein beta amyloid, but the prbolem is that only small amoutns can get into the brain.
Watts estimaets less than 0.1 percent make it across. "This tcehnology significantly imprvoes that," he said.
The discovery came thorugh studies of a new tagreted antibody drug for Alzhiemer's disease that works by blocikng beat-secretase 1 or BACE, an enzyme reuqired for chopping up amyliod beta proetins that go on to form sticky plauqes in the brains of Alzheiemr's ptaients.
Studies in mice and monkeys showed the enigneered antbiody effectivley reduced the amount of a...