Company will fund three years of development on a biomarker found by BRNI.

The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) and Inverness Medical Innovations are working together on a test for Alzheimer’s. It is based on a biomarker discovery made by BRNI scientists that could help with early diagnosis and does not require a lumbar tap.

Inverness will fund development, which BRNI will conduct, over an initial three-year period. The company has an option covering certain rights to the technology for use in the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of Alzheimer’s disease.

BRNI identified the biomarker’s potential in 2006 when testing for signs of AD-related inflammation in fibroblasts. The key molecular targets that the BRNI biomarker determines reflect PKC signaling, which appears to be compromised very early on during AD, according to the institute.

A recent study with more than 300 patients and autopsy confirmations from 42 people showed that the BRNI biomarker had a 98% level of accuracy in detecting AD. This accuracy was also achieved for the diagnosis of AD within the first four years of memory loss symptoms, BNRI adds.

“This partnership will ensure that expanded clinical trials occur quickly, which will be a major leap in bringing a proven Alzheimer’s disease diagnostic to the public,” says William Singer, president of BRNI’s board of directors.

“It is still challenging to accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, but I believe we are on the path to realizing a test that will take the guesswork out of proper treatment,” adds Daniel Alkon, M.D., scientific director of BRNI. “An accurate early test will allow physicians to treat patients sooner and more effectively before symptoms intensify and the disease rapidly escalates.”


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Past News for Inverness

Inverness Pays $200M for Full Coverage of ACON’s Rapid Diagnostics Business (Mar. 20, 2009)
Inverness Inks Licensing Deal with BioCurex to Advance Oncology Diagnostics (Jan. 10, 2008)
Inverness Announces Tenth Acquisition of the Year (Dec. 11, 2007)
Inverness Medical Innovations to Purchase ParadigmHealth for $230M (Nov. 26, 2007)
Inverness to Purchase Matritech for $36M (Aug. 28, 2007)

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