DiaGenic ASA Presents Prototypes of the First Early BloodTest for Alzheimer’s disease at AD/PD 2007

DiaGenic ASA today presented prototypes for its early diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease at the 8th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases (AD/PD 2007) at Salzburg, Austria. Based on gene expression analysis using peripheral blood as sample material, the DiaGenic test demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity on both prototypes.

“The data presented by DiaGenic suggest that this strategy for biomarker discovery may pay off,” said Professor Sam Gandy of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences, Thomas Jefferson University in the US. “There is a clear need for a better and earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s patients.”

DiaGenic CEO Erik Christiansen commented, ”We have now used the informative genes identified in previous studies to design and develop customized arrays on two different platforms that employ alternate technologies for gene expression profiling and validated them using a new and independent patient cohort. One is based on microarray technology (CodeLink™ Customized Multiassay Bioarrays), while the other relies on RT-PCR technology (TaqMan^® Low density arrays). The results from both prototypes fully meet the criteria for diagnostic use. In case of TaqMan, a 96 gene expression format has been developed retaining the high diagnostic accuracy reported by us on previous studies.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder afflicting approximately 20 million individuals worldwide, with a dramatic rise due to changing demographics forecast to 30-35 million by the year 2025. The symptoms and also the pathology of AD and other forms of dementia are similar and overlapping, making an early and accurate diagnosis extremely difficult. Alzheimer’s disease is the most costly disease for our societies - more costly than both cardiovascular disease and cancer combined. In the US alone, direct and indirect costs of caring for AD patients are at least $100 billion.