Neurocode USA Inc. added Alzpath Dx, a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease screening, to its lab developed tests, making it the first available for commercial use in the U.S. The move stands to make screening for the neurodegenerative disease much more accessible, as recent study results indicate Alzpath’s accuracy rivals PET scans and cerebrospinal fluid tests, the current gold standards, in detecting the signature biomarkers of the disease.
Shionogi & Co. Ltd. is partnering with Fronteo Inc. to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic tools to diagnose mental and neurological disorders more accurately.
Vandria SA has been awarded two grants totaling €3.8M (US$4.1M) from Innosuisse and Eurostars to support its two lead drug candidates addressing CNS and muscle diseases, respectively.
Quibim SL recently launched its artificial intelligence (AI)-based software QP-Brain, which is designed to detect early-stage neurodegenerative diseases, after it received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance, as well as CE and UKCA marks from the EU and U.K. regulators, respectively. QP-Brain quantifies and presents data from patients’ brain images to help clinicians with early diagnosis and treatment strategies for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and dementia.
Anavex Life Sciences Corp.’s stock (NASDAQ:AVXL) sunk 35% on Jan. 2 after a phase II/III study failure in Rett syndrome but posted a next-day rebound of 8% on Jan. 3 with shares closing at $6.53 each. Top-line data from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the company’s lead asset, Anavex 2-73 (blarcamesine), showed improvement but did not reach statistical significance on the co-primary endpoint, the Rett Syndrome Behaviour Questionnaire.
Sound Wave Innovation Co. Ltd. seeks patent protection for a method of using an ultrasonic device which transmits non-converging ultrasonic energy to the brain for the treatment of dementia, including mild Alzheimer’s-type dementia and mild cognitive impairment.
Mira Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reported findings on the cognitive enhancing effects of MIRA-1a, an unscheduled novel synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) analogue, in normal mice.
The U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance of Airamed GmbH’s Airascore software could see millions of people benefitting from early accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Airascore is a medical image management and processing system that uses deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to assess brain volumetry data on MRI scans in as little as five minutes.
With more drugs for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) gaining FDA approval and an aging population at increased risk of dementia, the need for AD diagnostics is only going to grow. An estimated 6.7 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s today, with that number projected to hit 14 million by 2060, according to the CDC.
