Amorfix has Alzheimer’s disease blood screening breakthrough

Amorfix Life Sciences (TSX:AMF) has detected Alzheimer’s disease-associated aggregated Beta-amyloid (ABeta), the hallmark of the disease, in the blood of transgenic mice, including both oligomeric and fibrillar aggregates of ABeta, which are generally considered to be the toxic forms and major contributors to brain dysfunction in AD.

“This milestone achievement represents the first time that aggregated ABeta has been measured in blood plasma from any animal model,” CSO, Dr. Neil Cashman, said in a statement.  “This discovery provides an important new tool for understanding AD and will significantly accelerate the evaluation of novel treatments for the disease,” he added.

The A4 assay can detect aggregates in plasma and tissue of standard animal models of AD several months before conventional microscopic procedures, which may accelerate the preclinical screening of new drugs for AD.  CEO, Dr. George Adams, said Amorfix already has a number of academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies utilizing the company’s commercial A4 test for ABeta in brain, so the “added capability of detecting ABeta in blood plasma will further entrench Amorfix as an emerging leader in preclinical AD diagnostics.”

The company is continuing to develop an AD blood screening test for humans for early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression.  The detection of aggregated ABeta in animal models suggests that aggregated ABeta may be present in the blood of AD patients, the company said.