The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation's Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) has announced a landmark $10 million investment in Alamar Biosciences, Inc., marking the largest single investment in the program's history. The funding will accelerate the development of Alamar's ARGO DX System, a blood-based diagnostic platform designed to revolutionize biomarker testing for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Advancing Blood-Based Alzheimer's Diagnostics
The investment will expedite the translation of Alamar's ARGO-HT research platform into an FDA-cleared system capable of supporting in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests—considered the gold standard of diagnostics. The ARGO HT System automates high-throughput NULISA assays, offering ultrasensitive protein detection and multiplexing capabilities 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."
Revolutionary NULISA Technology Platform
Alamar's proprietary NULISA technology distinguishes itself through its combination of ultra-high sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities, enabling the simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers from a single blood sample. This approach addresses what researchers describe as the "holy grail" for Alzheimer's diagnostics—developing an accessible and scalable blood panel that can detect multiple biomarkers to provide clinicians with better understanding of each patient's individual disease biology.
"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."
Enabling Precision Medicine Approach
The investment reflects a broader vision to bring precision medicine principles to Alzheimer's care, similar to approaches already established in oncology. The platform's ability to measure novel biomarker signatures could enable differential diagnosis in neurodegeneration, potentially allowing clinicians to tailor treatments based on individual patient biomarker profiles.
"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."
Broader Diagnostic Initiative Impact
This investment represents part of the DxA's larger $100 million global research initiative, which has invested more than $80 million in nearly 70 projects to date. The program, supported by partners including Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, and others, focuses on developing affordable and accessible biomarkers for early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
The DxA's diverse portfolio extends beyond blood tests to include retinal scans and digital tools designed to provide early and accurate diagnoses while supporting screening, prognostic, and prevention efforts. Dr. Fillit emphasized that "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."
