Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) invests $10M in Alamar Biosciences, Inc. to Advance Precision Medicine in Alzheimer’s Disease

Largest DxA investment to date supports development of Alamar’s ARGO™ DX System and future in vitro diagnostic tests

NEW YORK and FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)‘s Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) today announced a $10M investment in Alamar Biosciences, Inc. This landmark investment, the largest in DxA history, will expedite the translation of the ARGO-HT research platform into an FDA-cleared system to support the development of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests – the gold standard of diagnostics. Alamar’s ARGO HT System automates high-throughput NULISA™ assays, offering ultrasensitive protein detection and multiplexing for analyzing blood-based biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

“In cancer and other diseases of aging, we have biomarker panels that allow clinicians to better differentiate from many underlying causes of the disease and more importantly, how to tailor treatments based on each patient’s individual biomarker profile,” said Howard Fillit, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at the ADDF. “There is a pressing need to have biomarker panels for Alzheimer’s patients so we can better diagnose and develop new treatments. Alamar’s innovative platform provides the opportunity for a first of its kind blood panel in Alzheimer’s, which will be an important step as we move forward to delivering a more personalized approach for patients.”

“The powerful combination of ultra-high sensitivity and multiplexing unlocks the potential to measure novel biomarker signatures, enabling differential diagnosis in neurodegeneration,” said Niranjan Bose, Managing Director, Health and Life Sciences at Gates Ventures. “The investment in the development of ARGO DX focuses on translating this capability onto a scalable platform for widespread clinical use. We are excited to partner with the Alamar team to bring this vision to reality and advance the molecular diagnostics landscape in Alzheimer’s disease.”

The holy grail for Alzheimer’s diagnostics is to develop an accessible and scalable blood panel that can detect multiple biomarkers, providing clinicians with a better understanding of each patient’s individual disease biology. Alamar’s NULISA™ technology is unique in that it enables ultra-high sensitivity with the ability to test for multiple targets at once.

“Experts in the field have showcased the performance of the NULISA technology in detecting essentially all the important biomarkers in blood for Alzheimer’s and related dementias,” said Yuling Luo, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Alamar Biosciences, Inc. “The ARGO DX platform can potentially revolutionize the biomarker space by allowing researchers to go from discovery to detection of biomarker panels that stratify patient subsets and disease factors that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.”

“A diagnostic platform such as Alamar’s, that can detect and measure multiple disease pathways, will be instrumental in paving the way for early detection, biology of aging-based differential diagnosis, allowing for a precision medicine approach in Alzheimer’s,” commented Dr. Fillit.

This recent investment in Alamar reflects the DxA’s larger vision to accelerate the development of new biomarkers and diagnostic tools to enable early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. To date, the DxA has invested more than $80 million in nearly 70 projects, underscoring its commitment to bringing accessible, affordable, and scalable diagnostics to patients struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. Along with blood tests, the DxA’s diverse portfolio includes retinal scans and digital tools that will not only provide patients with early and accurate diagnoses but also work in tandem and have the potential to be used for screening, prognostic, and prevention efforts. 

About The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. The ADDF’s leadership and contributions to the field have played a pivotal role in bringing the first Alzheimer’s PET scan (Amyvid®) and blood test (PrecivityAD®) to market, as well as fueling the current robust and diverse drug pipeline. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded more than $360 million to fund over 760 Alzheimer’s drug discovery programs, biomarker programs and clinical trials in 21 countries. To learn more, please visit: http://www.alzdiscovery.org/.

ABOUT THE DIAGNOSTICS ACCELERATOR (DxA)
The Diagnostics Accelerator, created in July 2018, is a $100 million global research initiative from partners including ADDF Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, among others, to develop novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

This research initiative is dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and advance the clinical development of more targeted treatments. Through translational research awards and access to consulting support from industry experts, this program will challenge, assist and fund the research community in both academia and industry to develop novel peripheral and digital biomarkers.

About Alamar Biosciences, Inc.
Alamar Biosciences is a privately held life sciences company with a mission to power precision proteomics to enable the earliest detection of disease. The company’s proprietary NULISA Platform along with the ARGO™ HT System work seamlessly with the latest advances in genomics to achieve single digit attomolar detection sensitivity, greatly surpassing the most sensitive protein detection technology on the market today. For more information, please visit alamarbio.com.

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SOURCE Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation