On 8 and 9 October, the “Amyloid imaging to Prevent Alzheimer’s disease” (AMYPAD) consortium held its annual General Assembly as a virtual meeting. The event brought together AMYPAD delegates to report on the progress of the project, to exchange ideas and discuss upcoming activities.
Frederik Barkhof and Gill Farrar, coordinators of the AMYPAD project, kicked off the General Assembly by welcoming over 90 attendees. Following on from the introductory session, the first session was held on the Diagnostic and Patient Management Study (DPMS). With a total of 844 patients randomized on 900 originally planned, the study recruited 245 people with Subjective Cognitive Decline, 342 with Mild Cognitive Impairment and 258 with dementia. In addition, all visits and scanning activities have been completed by sites. After that, a session was dedicated to the Prognostic and Natural History Study (PNHS). The study comprises collaboration among sites and parent cohorts in several countries across Europe. Currently there are eight active cohorts (i.e. EPAD LCS, EMIF-AD, ALFA+, FACEHBI, FPACK, UCL, Microbiota and 90+) recruiting participants into AMYPAD PNHS. The AMYPAD PNHS has currently consented 1,115 participants of which 1,081 have already undergone their amyloid PET scan (as 7 October 2021). Analysis of the data acquired in both studies has started and preliminary results were presented for both clinical studies. Following on from this presentation, a session around ethics and dissemination was held, where Cindy Birck presented the communication activities of the project. Next, a roundtable discussion on the sustainability of the AMYPAD project was held, where different approaches on sustainability with related initiatives were presented and discussed. Then, the screen was given in turn to Elisabetta Vaudano (IMI) who gave a feedback on the AMYPAD progress and presented the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI). Finally, updates were provided on the management and financials.
On the second day, the AMYPAD consortium gathered for a scientific exchange and discussion on the technical developments. The WP2 “Tracer delivery, PET scanning and image analysis” team presented main findings and quantifications results from both clinical studies. Next, the floor was given to seven AMYPAD researchers to showcase their respective work in disease modelling. Gill Farrar and Frederik Barkhof then drew the meeting to a close, thanking all the participants for their active contribution to the meeting. Jean Georges and Cindy Birck attended the meeting on behalf of Alzheimer Europe.
The AMYPAD project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 115952. The Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA. This article reflects the author’s view and neither IMI nor the European Union and EFPIA are liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
