Grifols opens its first center in Barcelona to slow the progression of Alzheimer's

The Catalan multinational Grifols is one of the great global hopes in the fight against Alzheimer's. More than 35 million people suffer from this progressive and irreversible brain disease that causes memory loss, disorientation, and language alterations. There is no preventive treatment or one that radically stops its course, although there are medications that help alleviate some symptoms.

In this context, after a multi-million dollar investment and more than fifteen years of research, Grifols leads the race against this disease thanks to Ambar (Alzheimer Management by Albumin Replacement), an innovative therapeutic technique that has become the first treatment for Alzheimer's that has successfully completed a phase III clinical trial in the last 20 years. According to the company, which published the results of this study in July 2020, Ambar "has been shown to slow cognitive and functional decline" in patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer's.

Ambar is an innovative clinical procedure aimed at slowing the progression of Alzheimer's based on the so-called "periodic plasma exchange with albumin." The objective of the technique is to reduce the amount of a protein called beta-amyloid in the body, since patients with Alzheimer's accumulate excesses of this protein in the brain. Beta-amyloid circulates in blood plasma bound to another protein, albumin, which has a great transport and antioxidant capacity and is one of the main plasma products marketed by Grifols.

Thus, Ambar has devised a system that, through the technique of plasmapheresis, extracts plasma from the patient's blood and replaces it with new albumin. Each time plasma is extracted, albumin is extracted, and in turn, the beta-amyloid it carries; by simultaneously introducing new albumin, new proteins capable of capturing more beta-amyloid are introduced into the body, thus preventing its accumulation in the brain and the consequent neuronal damage that diminishes the patient's cognitive abilities.

Once the effectiveness and safety of the procedure to slow cognitive and functional decline were demonstrated through an international clinical trial involving 41 Spanish and American hospitals and 496 patients between 55 and 85 years old, Grifols is now taking action and implementing the novel technique with the creation of an international network of Ambar centers specialized in this therapy. The objective is to open these advanced facilities in the fight against Alzheimer's in various European countries, the United States, and China, partnering with different medical institutions recognized for their work in the field of this dementia.

Grifols has confirmed that the first of these centers will be launched starting in June in the Catalan capital thanks to an agreement with the Ace Foundation, considered an international benchmark in clinical research in the field of diseases that cause cognitive decline and dementias. Thus, the first Ambar Center has been installed at the headquarters of the Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, on Gran Via de Carlos III, where it will be managed by a team of neurologists, neuropsychologists, apheresis specialists, and nursing staff specialized in the new therapy. Although Ace is a center linked to CatSalut, for now, Ambar treatment is not funded by the public system, but the goal is for it to be in the future.

The objective of this first Ambar Center is to collect data from clinical practice and optimize the Ambar application technique to ensure it becomes a valid option for Alzheimer's patients as soon as possible. The Ace Foundation is fully familiar with this technique, as it has participated in the research program since its inception in 2004. Patients must attend the center once a week for six weeks and undergo plasma extraction sessions lasting two and a half hours. After those two weeks, the treatment then becomes monthly for the period of time deemed appropriate by the doctor. The clinical trial demonstrated a 61% reduction in disease progression in patients with moderate Alzheimer's, in addition to a positive impact on memory, language, and quality of life.

"We have worked closely with Grifols since the beginning of the Ambar clinical program and are excited to take this important step to gather data from routine clinical practice. This will reinforce the work that Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona has been doing for more than 25 years, focused on the care and personalized comprehensive attention of patients and their families in the fight against Alzheimer's," says Dr. Mercè Boada, neurologist and co-founder of Ace.

This non-profit organization, founded in 1995 to respond to the growing demand from people with dementia, assists more than 7,000 people each year, 3,000 of whom suffer from Alzheimer's.

For Grifols' president, Víctor Grifols Roura, with the opening of this first center in Barcelona, the group "is closer to the goal of finding a treatment for Alzheimer's disease and helping patients, their families, and society fight against this terrible disease."

With more than 24,000 employees in 30 countries, the blood plasma derivatives group born in Barcelona in 1909 is one of the largest global operators of blood plasma, which it obtains through an extensive international network of blood donation centers that it then processes to produce innovative medicines intended to treat diseases. The multinational currently owns 351 blood collection centers, mainly in the United States and, to a lesser extent, in three European countries where legislation allows it: Germany, Austria, and Hungary. It recently signed an agreement with the Government of Egypt to open donation centers in the country this year.

Grifols closed 2020 with a turnover of 5,340 million euros, up 4.7%, with an EBITDA of 1,324 million and a net profit of 736 million. The company estimated the impact of covid-19 on its accounts at 155 million. Last year, the group headquartered in Sant Cugat del Vallès allocated an investment in R&D&i of 298 million, equivalent to 5.6% of its revenues. More than 1,100 people work in its laboratories on research tasks.