AFFiRiS expects to receive funding from the US Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) for one of its current nine development programs.

The foundation will now support the development of the PD01 vaccine by AFFiRiS with $475,000.

AFFiRiS said that the vaccine PD01 targets the protein known as alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn), whose accumulation and associated deposition in the brain are considered to be key for the progression of Parkinson's disease.

PD01 triggers an effective immune response to the harmful alpha-syn, to allow the patients' own immune system to reduce this protein.

AFFiRiS CEO Walter Schmidt said that their Affitome technology continues to deliver vaccines with an extraordinary fine specificity.

AFFiRiS CSO Frank Mattner said that the protein alpha-syn, for example, belongs to a family of proteins that also comprises neuroprotective factors, such as beta-synuclein (beta-syn).