11 Nov Science of Alzheimer’s Disease is Moving Fast: Blood Test Will Make it Easier To Participate in Clinical Trials

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Grill

Joshua D. Grill, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry & Human Behavior
School of Medicine
Professor, Neurobiology and Behavior
School of Biological Sciences
University of California, Irvine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Alzheimer’s disease is a major public health challenge. More than 6 million Americans have the disease, which causes cognitive problems and eventual dependence on others for daily function. Scientists understand that the disease begins in the brain years before memory and other thinking problems begin and the AHEAD Study aims to intervene in this window of time, to see if a drug that targets these brain changes can delay or prevent symptoms of the disease.  

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Would you discuss the AHEAD Study and what the amyloid detection findings may be used for?

Response: To find appropriate people for studies like the AHEAD Study, we have to perform expensive brain scans that show us whether Alzheimer’s changes have begun in the brain. The blood assays that were presented today are an exciting advance that someday may replace these expensive brain scans. For now, we feel that the scans can help us effectively rule out people who won’t qualify for the study and increase the efficiency of recruiting and enrolling participants. Only those participants with a reasonable likelihood of being eligible based on the brain scan will be invited to move forward in the study. We also hope that this will make it easier for people to take that first step — to have a simple blood test — to see if they might be right for the study. And perhaps most importantly, we hope that this might lower the barriers to participation for communities of color, who are historically underrepresented in studies like this one. We need these studies to represent all people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease to ensure that we find solutions that work for everyone.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: The main take away is that the science of Alzheimer’s disease is moving fast. Blood tests and promising treatments are being tested in important studies. But researchers need help from their communities to finish these studies as quickly as possible to discover preventions for all people.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Response: Dr. Josh Grill reports research support from NIH, the Alzheimer’s Association, BrightFocus Foundation, Eisai, Biogen, and Genentech. He has provided consulting to SiteRx. The AHEAD Study is conducted as a Public-Private Partnership of the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium (ACTC), funded by National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Eisai Inc.

Citation: 

2022 International Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease abstract discussing the new blood test called PrecivityAD™
https://www.ctad-alzheimer.com/

LB04- INTRODUCTION OF PLASMA BIOMARKER SCREENING FOR THE AHEAD 3-45 STUDY. Reisa Sperling1, Keith Johnson2, Jin Zhou3, Michael C. Irizarry3, Shobha Dhadda3, Lynn D. Kramer3, Chad J. Swanson3, Yarasheski Kevin4, Robert A. Rissman5, Michael Rafii6, Rema Raman6, Michael C. Donohue6, Gopalan Sethuraman6, Paul S. Aisen6 (1. Brigham And Women’s Hospital, Masschusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School – Boston (United States), 2. Brigham And Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School – Boston (United States), 3. Eisai – San Francisco (United States), 4. C 2 N Diagnostics – St. Louis (United States), 5. University Of California San Diego, University Of Southern California – San Diego (United States), 6. University Of Southern California – San Diego (United States))

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Last Updated on November 11, 2021 by Marie Benz MD FAAD