Of course BAP and solanezumab have similar mechanisms of...

Of course BAP and solanezumab have similar mechanisms of action...they're both monoclonal antibodies.

They have been engineered, however, to target different domains on the amyloid protein, and that is what distinguishes them. Solanezumab does not discriminate on the basis of APOE4 status, and thus targets "100%" of the AD market.

Whilst the failure of one to demonstrate efficacy may well predict the failure of the other,it gets down to how one defines "failure." The end-point of relevance is NOT merely the removal of amyloid...we know that clioquinol, PBT2 and even the ill-fated Elan active immunisation project acheived that end....

What ultimately is of relevance is whether patients get better. Amyloid deposits up to 10 years before patients develop symptoms, the clear implication being that it's doing damage throughout that time, and that it's only when the brain is no longer able to compensate for this loss thru cognitive reserve that patients develop symptoms of memory loss. Even if the cause of further damage (amyloid) is removed at this point, a lot of damage has already been done, and the adult brain has limited capacity to repair itself.

My fear, therefore, is that both the Wyeth and Lilly compounds will be demonstrated to clear amyloid, but not have powerful (if any) effects on cognition.

If this is indeed the outcome, it may sound the death-knell for amyloid-busting drugs as a whole, unless we can get to the stage of pre-symptomatic diagnosis and treatment (e.g. via screening with PET ligands that have affinity for amyloid).

Thus, the failure of either of the two abovmentioned trials (but in particular, the Lilly compound), may well have adverse implications for Prana, as it would further cast doubt on the validity of amyloid removal as a therapeutic approach. We remain some 2.5 years away from the point where the Lilly compound's success (or failure) can be evaluated (in the absence of the trial being stopped early due to an extremely positive or negative interim analysis), but this itself underlines the importance of progress being made with PBT2 in the interim.