Ever since Biogen and Eisai’s Aduhelm (aducanemab) was approved in 2021 as the first antibody to treat Alzheimer’s disease by clearing amyloid plaques from the brain, the modality has been dogged by a serious side effect: brain bleeding called amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, or ARIA.

Now, researchers from Denali Therapeutics have debuted an antibody that can cross the blood-brain barrier and attack amyloid, but without triggering this potentially life-threatening complication.