Monoclonal antibodies against β-amyloid (Aβ) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: the Aβ target at a crossroads.

Several second-generation active β-amyloid (Aβ) vaccines and passive Aβ immunotherapies are under clinical investigation with the aim of boosting Aβ clearance from the brain of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. However, the preliminary cognitive efficacy of bapineuzumab, a humanized anti-Aβ monoclonal antibody, appears uncertain. Moreover, the occurrence of vasogenic edema and, more rarely, brain microhemorrhages, especially in apolipoprotein E ϵ4 carriers, have led to abandoning of the hig...