Alzheimer's Disease THErapy With NEuroaid II

Official title

A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Parellel-group Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of MLC901 (NeuroAiD™II) in Subjects With Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

Overview

ATHENE II is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MLC901 in subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, as well as its effects on plasma biomarkers compared to placebo.

Detailed description

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with limited treatments that slow progression. Current symptomatic therapies provide modest benefit, while anti-amyloid agents target a single pathway and have uncertain long-term outcomes. Multitarget approaches may provide broader and more durable benefit. MLC901 (NeuroAiD™II), a Traditional Chinese Medicine derived formulation, has shown neuroprotective and neuroproliferative properties in preclinical studies through multimodal mechanisms, including modulation of amyloid beta and tau phosphorylation, reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation, and promotion of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. Clinical studies, including the ATHENE trial, suggest MLC901 may slow cognitive decline and is well tolerated. ATHENE II is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study enrolling approximately 350 patients with mild to moderate AD across Southeast Asia. Participants will receive MLC901 or placebo for 12 months. The primary objective is to determine whether MLC901 is superior to placebo in slowing cognitive decline as measured by ADAS-Cog11. Secondary and exploratory objectives include global cognition, function, behavior, safety, and plasma biomarkers of AD (p-tau217, NfL and GFAP).

Interventions

• Drug MLC 901
  Oral capsule, 2 capsules 3 times a day for 12 months
• Drug Placebo
  Oral capsule, 2 capsules 3 times a day for 12 months

Primary outcome measures

• Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale11 (ADAS-Cog11) [Time frame: Baseline, Month 6 and Month 12]

Secondary outcome measures (4)

• Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): Global Score and Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) [Time frame: Baseline, Month 6 and Month 12]
• Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL) [Time frame: Baseline, Month 6 and Month 12]
• Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) [Time frame: Baseline, Month 6 and Month 12]
• Adverse events [Time frame: Up to 52 weeks]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Male or female subjects aged ≥ 50 years at the time of providing informed consent.
• Diagnosis of AD based on the National Institute on Ageing and the Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) criteria, supported by the presence of a Core 1 AD biomarker, specifically elevated plasma ptau217 ≥0.471 pg/mL.
• MMSE score between 10 and 26, inclusive, at baseline, corresponding to mild to moderate AD.
• Subjects may be either treatment-naïve or currently receiving stable symptomatic treatment for AD for at least the 2 months prior to screening, including AChEIs, memantine, or a combination of both.
• Subjects must have a designated study partner who provides ongoing support during the study and interacts with the subject for a minimum of 8 hours per week, and will accompany the subject to study visits or be available by telephone at designated times.

A second study partner may serve as backup. If the original study partner withdraws from participation, a replacement study partner may be permitted at the investigator's discretion. The replacement study partner must provide informed consent prior to their first study visit with the subject.

• Both the subject (or their legally authorized representative) and the study partner(s) must be capable of providing informed consent.
• Subjects must have adequate literacy, vision, and hearing, in the opinion of the investigator at the time of screening, to allow for valid administration of the clinical outcome assessments.

Exclusion criteria

• Presence of any neurological disorder contributing to cognitive impairment other than AD, including but not limited to: Parkinson's disease, Dementia with Lewy bodies, and epilepsy or recurrent seizures.
• Evidence of other clinically significant cerebrovascular disease or intracranial abnormalities based on the latest brain CT or MRI, including but not limited to: multiple lacunar infarcts, large territorial infarcts, severe small vessel or white matter disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, space occupying lesions.

The most recent available scan (obtained at diagnosis or subsequently) is usually sufficient for screening eligibility to exclude these other conditions. Repeat imaging may need in some cases to be considered if there is clinically significant deterioration or new neurological signs suggestive of a cerebrovascular event.

• Presence of any serious or unstable medical illnesses, including but not limited to: cardiovascular, respiratory, gastroenterological, endocrinologic, immunologic, hematologic, hepatic, or renal and other conditions, that, in the investigator's judgment, may interfere with study participation or compromise subject safety.
• Patients with a CDR Global Score of 0, 0.5 or 3 at the Screening Phase, corresponding to no, very mild or severe dementia, respectively, will be excluded from the study.
• Severe visual or hearing impairment that would prevent the subject from accurately completing clinical outcome assessments.
• Serum creatinine > 130 µmol/L at baseline, which may affect plasma biomarker analysis.
• Female subjects who are pregnant at screening.
• Participation in another clinical trial or receipt of any investigational product within 60 days or 5 half-lives (whichever is longer) prior to screening.
• Current use at baseline of any AD disease modifying therapies including anti-amyloid therapy or neuroprotective/nootropic agents, including Ginkgo biloba, Neurotain, Citicoline, Cerebrolysin, or Piracetam.
• Known hypersensitivity or allergic reaction to MLC901 or any of its components. Any known food allergy or hypersensitivity to Astragalus membranaceus, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Polygala tenuifolia, Angelica sinensis or members of the Fabaceae/Leguminosae family (e.g., legume, pea, bean), Polygalaceae family (e.g., milkwort, snakeroot), Apiaceae/Umbelliferae family (e.g., anise, caraway, carrot, celery, dill, parsley, parsnip) or Quillaja bark (soapbark).

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Quadruple blind

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

Singapore · 1 center

• National University Hospital Singapore — Singapore

Publications

• Dib M, Ampil E, Kee HF, et al. A review of NeuroAiD™ II (MLC901) development in Alzheimer's disease treatment: promises of a multimodal pathway. J Neurol Res Rev Rep. 2022 Jun 30;1-13.
• Lee WT, Hsian CCL, Lim YA. The effects of MLC901 on tau phosphorylation. Neuroreport. 2017 Nov 8;28(16):1043-1048. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000000884. PMID 28902708
• Lim YA, Murray LA, Lai MK, Chen C. NeuroAiD(R) (MLC601) and amyloid precursor protein processing. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2013;35 Suppl 1:30-7. doi: 10.1159/000346236. Epub 2013 Mar 14. PMID 23548917
• Heurteaux C, Widmann C, Moha ou Maati H, Quintard H, Gandin C, Borsotto M, Veyssiere J, Onteniente B, Lazdunski M. NeuroAiD: properties for neuroprotection and neurorepair. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2013;35 Suppl 1:1-7. doi: 10.1159/000346228. Epub 2013 Mar 14. PMID 23548913
• Heurteaux C, Gandin C, Borsotto M, Widmann C, Brau F, Lhuillier M, Onteniente B, Lazdunski M. Neuroprotective and neuroproliferative activities of NeuroAid (MLC601, MLC901), a Chinese medicine, in vitro and in vivo. Neuropharmacology. 2010 Jun;58(7):987-1001. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2010.01.001. Epub 2010 Jan 11. PMID 20064536

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07191028 · EFSA2025_01

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗