The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)’s Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) today announced a $10M investment in Alamar Biosciences, Inc. This landmark investment, the largest in DxA history, will expedite the translation of the ARGO-HT research platform into an FDA-cleared system to support the development of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests – the gold standard of diagnostics. Alamar’s ARGO HT System automates high-throughput NULISA™ assays, offering ultrasensitive protein detection and multiplexing for analyzing blood-based biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
“In cancer and other diseases of aging, we have biomarker panels that allow clinicians to better differentiate from many underlying causes of the disease and more importantly, how to tailor treatments based on each patient’s individual biomarker profile,” said Howard Fillit, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at the ADDF. “There is a pressing need to have biomarker panels for Alzheimer’s patients so we can better diagnose and develop new treatments. Alamar’s innovative platform provides the opportunity for a first of its kind blood panel in Alzheimer’s, which will be an important step as we move forward to delivering a more personalized approach for patients.”
“The powerful combination of ultra-high sensitivity and multiplexing unlocks the potential to measure novel biomarker signatures, enabling differential diagnosis in neurodegeneration”, said Niranjan Bose, Managing Director, Health and Life Sciences at Gates Ventures. “The investment in the development of ARGO DX focuses on translating this capability onto a scalable platform for widespread clinical use. We are excited to partner with the Alamar team to bring this vision to reality and advance the molecular diagnostics landscape in Alzheimer’s disease.”
The holy grail for Alzheimer’s diagnostics is to develop an accessible and scalable blood panel that can detect multiple biomarkers, providing clinicians with a better understanding of each patient’s individual disease biology. Alamar’s NULISA™ technology is unique in that it enables ultra-high sensitivity with the ability to test for multiple targets at once.
“Experts in the field have showcased the performance of the NULISA technology in detecting essentially all the important biomarkers in blood for Alzheimer’s and related dementias,” said Yuling Luo, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Alamar Biosciences, Inc. “The ARGO DX platform can potentially revolutionize the biomarker space by allowing researchers to go from discovery to detection of biomarker panels that stratify patient subsets and disease factors that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.”
“A diagnostic platform such as Alamar’s, that can detect and measure multiple disease pathways, will be instrumental in paving the way for early detection, biology of aging-based differential diagnosis, allowing for a precision medicine approach in Alzheimer’s,” commented Dr. Fillit.
This recent investment in Alamar reflects the DxA’s larger vision to accelerate the development of new biomarkers and diagnostic tools to enable early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. To date, the DxA has invested more than $80 million in nearly 70 projects, underscoring its commitment to bringing accessible, affordable, and scalable diagnostics to patients struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. Along with blood tests, the DxA’s diverse portfolio includes retinal scans and digital tools that will not only provide patients with early and accurate diagnoses but also work in tandem and have the potential to be used for screening, prognostic, and prevention efforts.
