Humanized antibodies that recognize beta amyloid peptide

Abstract

The invention provides improved agents and methods for treatment of diseases associated with amyloid deposits of Aβ in the brain of a patient. Preferred agents include humanized antibodies.

1 . A method for effecting improvement of cognition in a subject having a condition or disease related to Aβ, comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of an anti-Aβ antibody.  
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subject is human.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the condition or disease is Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome, or mild cognitive impairment.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the disease is Alzheimer's disease.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the disease or condition is Down's syndrome.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the disease or condition is mild cognitive impairment.  
     
     
         7 . The method of any one of claims  1 - 6 , wherein the antibody binds Aβ with an affinity of at least 10 −9  M.  
     
     
         8 . The method of any one of claims  1 - 6 , wherein the antibody binds Aβ with an affinity of at least 10 −10  M.  
     
     
         9 . The method of any one of claims  1 - 8 , wherein the antibody is a humanized or human antibody.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the antibody is a humanized 266 antibody, or an analog thereof.  
     
     
         11 . The method of any one of claims  1 - 10 , wherein the anti-Aβ antibody recognizes the same epitope that antibody 266 recognizes or competes with antibody 266 for binding to soluble Aβ.  
     
     
         12 . The method of any one of claims  1 - 11 , wherein the affinity is measured with respect to either Aβ1-40 or Aβ1-42.  
     
     
         13 . The method of any one of claims  1 - 12 , additionally comprising measuring cognition in the subject before administering the antibody  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , additionally comprising measuring cognition in the subject after administering the antibody.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the measure of cognition after administering the antibody shows a significant improvement in cognition compared with the measure of cognition before administering the antibody.  
     
     
         16 . The method of any one of claims  1 - 15 , additionally comprising measuring cognition in the subject after administrating the antibody.  
     
     
         17 . The use of an anti-Aβ antibody to prepare a medicament for any one of the methods of claims  1 - 16 .