Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation Announces Development of Comprehensive Biomarker Observatory

The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF; New York, NY) announced the investment of $3.2 million to the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) to develop the first ever Biomarker Observatory for Alzheimer disease (AD). The Biomarker Observatory is designed to record and categorize information to provide an overview on the status of the AD biomarker pipeline, including recent developments in blood tests, brain scans, and digital devices. The initiative will be led by Jeffrey Cummings MD, ScD of UNLV and Feixiong Cheng, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Cummings is also a member of Practical Neurology’s Editorial Board for AD and dementia.

The Biomarker Observatory will be distributed regularly as a companion to Dr. Cummings annual clinical trial report, which is published in the Alzheimer’s Association’s journal, Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions.

"The Biomarker Observatory is the natural counterpart to the clinical trial report, and the ADDF's support will help make it possible for researchers to access a comprehensive repository of the advancements in Alzheimer's research," stated Dr. Cummings. "With the drug pipeline now predominantly exploring novel aging pathways, the need for complementary biomarkers has never been more critical, especially as we look to develop the next phase of treatments."

This collaboration follows the launch of ADDF’s Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) in 2018, which has invested more than $60 million into projects to accelerate the development of novel biomarker tests for AD.