Constantly-evolving Biomarkers Repository to help policymakers, healthcare system leaders and scientific community better understand and support personalized medicine

Lausanne, Switzerland (November 13, 2019) – In an important step to advance Alzheimer’s research, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s today announced creation of a new online Biomarkers Repository to track research into Alzheimer’s biomarkers and diagnostics.

“Developing a family of accurate and validated biomarkers and diagnostics is a critical piece of the mission to stop Alzheimer’s,” said George Vradenburg, chairman and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer's. “This online repository will be a constantly-updated source of information on biomarker and diagnostic research for policymakers, healthcare system leaders and the scientific community. It will be a fast-track roadmap to validated biomarker tools for use in research and diagnosis in clinical practice.”

Many potential biomarkers are being studied for use in a number of different contexts — such as patient stratification, target engagement, as surrogate endpoints — as well as for use in clinical practice as diagnostic tools for early detection and diagnosis of disease.

“With a timely diagnosis of cognitive impairment or dementia, patients will be better able to take advantage of therapeutic, medical and lifestyle options most effective to delay or prevent further cognitive decline,” said Vradenburg, “Better biomarker and diagnostic tools mean that precision therapies designed for different populations affected by dementia can be developed more rapidly and people accurately diagnosed in a more-timely way.”

The new Biomarkers Repository seeks to raise awareness and visibility regarding recent innovations in this space, enable the development of a clear pathway for these innovations to get to market, and provide a solid foundation for a broader global blueprint of Alzheimer’s research and innovation.

The availability of the new Biomarkers Repository is particularly timely given recent promising developments on drug therapies and treatments. Just last week, the Chinese government approved Oligomannate for treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, with clinical trials for this drug expected in 2020 in the U.S. Last month, Biogen and Eisai announced their intent to seek approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early 2020 of Aducanumab as a therapy for early Alzheimer’s. Earlier, Acadia Pharmaceuticals said it planned to submit pimavanserin for U.S. regulatory review for the treatment of dementia-related psychosis.

Creation of the Biomarkers Repository was announced at the 2019 Lausanne Workshop, an annual gathering of global Alzheimer’s stakeholders convened by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and supported by the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi), a corporate-centered part of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). The Biomarkers Repository was developed by ResearchersAgainstAlzheimer’s, a member of the UsAgainstAlzheimer’s family of networks. The work has been supported by a grant from Roche Diagnostics. 

The Repository includes a growing list of Alzheimer’s biomarkers and diagnostics in various stages of development, such as biomarkers and diagnostics currently being used, those in clinical development as well as preclinical or novel biomarkers still in an exploratory phase. The new Biomarkers Repository is intended to be the Beta release, with others invited to develop, refine and expand it into a comprehensive database on biomarker and diagnostic research.

While numerous innovations in biomarkers and diagnostics have been made in the Alzheimer’s space in recent years, the information is dispersed across sources and databases. The new Biomarkers Repository collects and organizes the information into a single, easy-to-use database accessible to researchers, policymakers, patients and caregivers. The microsite, which can be edited and updated by qualified researchers and scientists, is organized in a way that users can easily search through the information.

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About UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2)

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2) is a disruptive advocacy and research-focused organization that is pressing for greater resources and speed in the development of and access to effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. UsA2’s transformative programming is laser-focused on fostering brain health across the lifespan and assuring that the voice and insights of those affected by the disease are heard, including, importantly, communities of color and low income.