What You Should Know:
– ALZpath, a leader in Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics, announced a licensing agreement with Roche for their innovative pTau217 antibody. This paves the way for a blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease using Roche’s widely used Elecsys® platform.
– The Roche pTau217 test has already received Breakthrough Device designation from the FDA and will be commercialized as part of a collaboration between Roche and Eli Lilly.
pTau217: A Game Changer in Alzheimer’s Detection
pTau217 is a protein biomarker crucial for detecting and tracking Alzheimer’s progression in a simple blood test. This offers a significant advantage over traditional methods like PET scans or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing, which are expensive, invasive, and less accessible.
Transforming Alzheimer’s Research and Care
Dr. Sterling Johnson, an advisor to ALZpath, emphasizes the potential impact. He highlights how a widely available blood test based on pTau217 could revolutionize Alzheimer’s research. It could accelerate development of new treatments, improve patient evaluation and care, and potentially even allow for early intervention before symptoms worsen.
Addressing a Growing Need
With the number of Alzheimer’s cases expected to reach nearly 140 million by 2050, faster, more affordable, and reliable diagnostic tools are critical. ALZpath’s licensing strategy, making their pTau217 antibody available across various settings, aims to democratize access to this vital technology.
“The field has been waiting for highly accurate and reliable plasma pTau217 assays on widely available, fully automated commercial testing platforms, and we are thrilled that ALZpath’s proprietary antibody has been selected by Roche to play that vital role on the Elecsys® platform,” said Venkat Shastri, CEO at ALZpath. “ALZpath’s expertise in developing novel antibodies for precisely detecting the presence and progression of Alzheimer’s disease in blood, combined with Roche’s leading in-vitro diagnostics instrument base, represents a key step toward global availability of testing as treatments emerge. The broad availability of an easy-to-use diagnostic test can profoundly impact Alzheimer’s disease research, therapeutic clinical trials, and clinical care.”
