Alzheimer’s Disease
Detecting a range of biomarkers for this devastating disease
Alzheimer’s disease is among the most prevalent illnesses worldwide. It currently impacts 60% to 80% of the 50 million patients globally who are suffering from dementia. The number of people with the disease is expected to grow to 152 million by 2050, with 10 million new cases anticipated per year.
In Alzheimer’s disease, sticky amyloid beta (Aβ), tau and other proteins accumulate in the brain and form aggregates that disrupt cell function. These proteins may naturally pass through the blood-brain barrier, whether healthy or unhealthy (aggregated).
Diagnosis and treatment for the disease are hindered by a lack of accessible and reliable diagnostics. Drawbacks associated with currently available diagnostic tools include:
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PET imaging, the current gold standard, is expensive, often inaccessible and not scalable.
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Molecular diagnostics use cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained through painful, expensive and invasive procedures.
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Cognitive behavioral assessment is subjective and unreliable, and can’t distinguish early stages of disease.
The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, combined with the current lack of reliable diagnostics, represents a total addressable market of at least $10 billion per year.
Due largely to these diagnostic limitations, 50% of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease never receive a referral to a neurologist or memory care specialist. Additionally, by the time it’s detected, the disease has often progressed to the mild to moderate stage, which can limit therapeutic benefit.
