The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), a US-based venture philanthropy organisation that solely funds research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia, recently launched the Diagnostics Accelerator in partnership with Bill Gates. The Diagnostics Accelerator aims to fast-track research that could result in easier and earlier diagnosis of AD and related dementias. On 30 May, the ADDF announced the four inaugural award recipients of Diagnostics Accelerator funding. Two of the funded projects aim to develop diagnostic blood tests, while the other two involve non-invasive retinal imaging approaches.
Dr Saliha Moussaoui, Chief Scientific Officer of Amoneta Diagnostics SAS, was awarded up to USD 2 million, to develop a diagnostic test that measures the presence of two RNAs in small-volume blood samples. Amoneta Diagnostics hopes that this approach will be able to diagnose AD very early in the disease development process, before symptoms are obvious. Building on previous work showing that tau protein fragments could be detected in the blood of people with AD, Prof. Kaj Blennow from the University of Gothenburg was awarded $500,000 to develop a highly-sensitive test able to detect and measure these brain-derived tau fragments in blood samples.
Studies indicate that brain neurodegeneration can be connected to retinal changes, such as the structural alterations observed in retinal blood vessels from people with AD. Dr Tom MacGillivray from the University of Edinburgh was awarded over USD 488,000, for a project evaluating the utility of imaging tests that assess retinal blood vessels and ocular markers of neurodegeneration. Dr MacGillivray’s project will use advanced computer algorithms to enhance the diagnostic capability of retinal imaging scans for AD. With a similar focus on the retina, Dr Peter van Wijngaarden from the Centre for Eye Research in Australia was awarded over USD 420,000, to develop and test a camera that uses specific wavelengths of light to detect the abnormal build-up of tau proteins in the retina. The Diagnostics Accelerator funding will fast-track this technology into clinical trials designed to evaluate the sensitivity of this diagnostic for very early stage AD.