Information for patients

The GA-VAX project, funded by the European Commission, is dedicated to developing a vaccine for genetic C9orf72 ALS and FTD. The team at DZNE and Intravacc is making significant progress based on promising results from tests on transgenic mice. We are now focusing on the scientific, manufacturing, regulatory, and other steps required to start testing the vaccine in humans, which we hope could begin in a few years.

Although progress is good, it is important to note that we are still in the early stages, and several steps remain before the vaccine can be tested in patients. Each step may present new challenges. The team is highly optimistic that we can reach the goal of delivering a vaccine that is ready for human studies and is extremely thankful for the funding from the European Commission. We hope this project will eventually lead to a new treatment for C9orf72 ALS and FTD, but even if successful, it will take several years before the vaccine can be available to the public.

Due to data protection requirements, we cannot keep a list of patients interested in participating in future trials. For updates, visit www.ga-vax.eu periodically.
In the meantime, you may want to consider participating in the DZNE clinical registry study (https://www.dzne.de/en/research/studies/clinical-studies/describe/).

General information about ALS and FTD is available on the DZNE website (https://www.dzne.de/en/news/background/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis/ and https://www.dzne.de/en/news/background/frontotemporal-dementia/).

For any questions about diagnosis or treatment of ALS or FTD, please consult your neurologist or visit our affiliated ALS clinics.

We are also grateful for donations to the ALS foundation at DZNE – “Karin Christiane Conradi Stiftungsfonds für ALS-Forschung”. You can contribute here: https://www.dzne-stiftung.de/spendenprojekte/#c174

Thank you for your interest and support in the GA-VAX project!