Proteome rockets on Alzheimer's blood test

published 28 March 2012

Pharma group Proteome Sciences has had a strong morning on the markets after announcing success in its project to develop better diagnostic tools for Alzheimer's disease.

A study of 1,000 patients has shown three distinct "biomarkers" in people's blood which can discriminate between mild "cognitive impairment" (a syndrome often preceding Alzheimer's), Alzheimer's itself and control groups who do not have the condition.

Proteome Sciences is filing patents for the "panels" in the blood that contain the biomarkers.

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It is estimated that 60% of people with Alzheimer's disease have not been properly diagnosed and therefore are not being given the correct drugs and care.

The capability to distinguish between different levels of the disease will enable drug developers to improve patient care and people with mild symptoms are likely to benefit the most from new disease-modifying drugs.

The key is that Proteome may be able to develop a simple blood test to determine progression of Alzheimer's as opposed to the current diagnostic methods of invasive lumbar punctures or expensive MRI scans.

Presenting the data at a conference in Melbourne, Australia, Professor Simon Lovestone, who has worked with Proteome for the National Institute for Health Research said: "As new treatments for Alzheimer's disease are being developed, there is an increasing need for accurate and accessible markers of disease severity and progression. We will move quickly to support the development of clinical tests based on these biomarker panels."

Shares in Proteome had risen 8.85% by 11:08.