University spinout signs agreement on Alzheimer's disease biomarkers
PharmaKure, a University of Manchester spinout company specialising in companion diagnostics for the treatment of neurological diseases, has launched a collaboration wth with APIS Assay Technologies Ltd, a company with scientific expertise in biomarker translation, molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics.
The agreement will progress a development project for the use of Clickmers for highly selective detection of biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Clickmers are single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides modified with Nobel prize-winning Click chemistry.
Under the terms of the collaboration, APIS and PharmaKure will advance the development of specific Clickmers targeting biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease pathology and their clinical validation for diagnostic purposes. Certain blood biomarkers of amyloid-b (Total, Ab40 and Ab42), aggregated 伪-synuclein, aggregated Tau (Total and pTAU (181)), NFL and DJ-1 have been associated with Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 Disease pathology. The Clickmer technology will be used to sensitively and accurately quantify the levels of these biomarkers in blood.
青瓜视频榃e are excited to collaborate with APIS on the possibility of using Clickmers for advancing increased binding affinity towards Alzheimer's biomarkers such as amyloid-b,青瓜视频� said Dr Farid Khan, CEO at PharmaKure. 青瓜视频淭his is one of the steps to bring to the market effective disease-modifying therapeutics in AD by combining our lead drug candidate PK051 with an early detection of disease-related biomarker assays青瓜视频�.
青瓜视频榃e are very excited to be collaborating with the PharmaKure team. It is a fantastic opportunity to support the development of novel diagnostic tests that detect biomarkers associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer青瓜视频檚青瓜视频� said Dr Helen Fielder, Head of Technology at APIS. 青瓜视频淯sing APIS青瓜视频� novel Clickmer technology, we aim to deliver highly specific and high affinity detection of Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 biomarkers, to support earlier detection of the disease. Earlier detection alongside PharmaKure青瓜视频檚 lead drug candidate PK051 has the potential to significantly improve the treatment of AD patients青瓜视频�.
Our goal is to accurately identify patients that are starting on the road to Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 Disease, even before they have any symptoms. The Clickmer Systems technology will allow us to measure the levels of the protein forms that trigger the onset of the disease
青瓜视频淥ur goal is to accurately identify patients that are starting on the road to Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 Disease, even before they have any symptoms. The Clickmer Systems technology will allow us to measure the levels of the protein forms that trigger the onset of the disease青瓜视频� said Professor Andrew Doig from The University of Manchester, Head of Research and Development at PharmaKure. 青瓜视频淎 combination of new drugs and diagnostics will finally allow us to find the effective treatments for Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 Disease that we so desperately need.青瓜视频�
Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 disease is a fatal illness that causes progressive decline in memory and other aspects of cognition. Dementia due to Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all cases. Every 3 seconds someone in the world develops dementia. 850,000 (UK) and 44 million (worldwide) are suffering from Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 or dementia related illnesses. In 2020, the total cost of cost of care for people with dementia in the UK is 青瓜视频34.7 billion. Globally, the cost was $360 billion and by 2050 the costs could be a $1 trillion (source Alzheimer青瓜视频檚 Research UK). In the US alone, there was an increase of 8 million new caregivers from 2015 to 2020. The current annual societal and economic cost of dementia is estimated as $1 trillion, an amount that is expected to double by 2030 unless we find a way to slow the disease.