C₂N and Eisai Collaborate to Build Awareness and Real-World Evidence for Blood-Based Assays for Cognitive Impairment in Clinical Practice Outside of Clinical Trial Settings
ST. LOUIS and NUTLEY, N.J., August 23, 2022 – C₂N Diagnostics and Eisai Inc. today announced the Companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding that will seek to build awareness about how blood-based assays for cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), may help patients receive a timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment, especially in traditionally underserved communities. C₂N and Eisai will work to build awareness and develop real-world evidence to support the use of blood-based assays in people living with cognitive impairment who are not currently participating in a clinical trial. The development and adoption of blood-based assays in everyday clinical practice is an important step in improving care for people in remote and underserved communities where access to the traditional diagnostic tools of positron emission tomography (PET) and lumbar punctures are not a viable option.
The number of people with dementia is growing substantially; more than 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, and this number is expected to increase to 78 million by 2030.¹ Accurate diagnosis remains a barrier to early and proper care management; research reviews estimate that between 40 and 60 percent of adults with probable dementia are undiagnosed.² Importantly, blood-based assays may be able to help identify which patients may benefit from therapy, and therefore may help streamline care and reduce healthcare spending. Early detection, diagnosis and treatment of dementia protects individuals against risks from delayed or missed diagnosis and allows individuals, their families and their caregivers to plan for the future as the condition progresses.²
“We must do more to provide a specific and timely diagnosis of dementia. Patients and families want to know, and that’s why this collaboration is so vital. We’re honored to be working with Eisai, which is recognized as a leader in innovation, evidence-based solutions to patient care, and we join them in a shared commitment to improving global health for individuals dealing with memory impairment and Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Joel Braunstein, CEO, C₂N Diagnostics.
“As the science of Alzheimer’s disease rapidly progresses, it is critical that healthcare providers have simple tools to diagnose people living with early Alzheimer’s disease in a variety of real-world settings, not just clinical trials,” said Ivan Cheung, Chairman and CEO of Eisai Inc., Global Alzheimer's Disease Officer, and Senior Corporate Officer, Eisai Co., Ltd. “For four decades Eisai has been at the forefront of Alzheimer’s disease research, and we are proud to combine efforts with C₂N Diagnostics, as we are impressed with their approach and achievements in the field. Eisai and C₂N will support the development of new standards in clinical care that may enable timely and accurate diagnoses for people living with cognitive impairment, especially those in traditionally underserved communities.”
About C₂N Diagnostics and Its Blood-Based Biomarkers for Cognition Health
C₂N Diagnostics is a specialty diagnostics company with a vision to bring Clarity Through Innovation™. C₂N strives to provide exceptional laboratory services and products in the field of brain health. C₂N’s biomarker services and products are used for: clinical decision making to improve patient care, including diagnosis and treatment monitoring; maximizing the quality and efficiency of clinical trials that test novel treatments for neurodegeneration; and providing innovative tools to help healthcare researchers better understand novel mechanisms of disease, identify new treatment targets, and conduct important epidemiologic studies to improve global public health. Its PrecivityAD™ blood test is an innovative new blood test intended for use in patients with cognitive impairment. Accurate quantification of Aβ42/40 ratio and ApoE prototyping in blood using its mass spectrometry helps healthcare providers determine the presence or absence of amyloid plaques in the brain, a hallmark sign of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the P-tau Multi-Analyte Assay (P-tau MAA), which simultaneously measures four types of tau217 and tau181 phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms in blood sample, is now available for research use only (ROU). The assay is expected to aid in screening for clinical studies, better understanding of disease biology, as well as investigational drug research. For more information visit www.C2N.com.
About Eisai
Eisai’s corporate concept is “to give first thought to patients and people in the daily living domain, and to increase the benefits that health care provides.” Under this Concept [also known as our human health care (hhc) Concept], we aim to effectively achieve social good in the form of relieving anxiety over health and reducing health disparities. With a global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to create and deliver innovative products to target diseases with high unmet medical needs, with a particular focus in our strategic areas of Neurology and Oncology.
In addition, our continued commitment to the elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which is a target (3.3) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is demonstrated by our work on various activities together with global partners.
For more information about Eisai, please visit www.eisai.com (for global headquarters: Eisai Co., Ltd.), us.eisai.com (for U.S. headquarters: Eisai Inc.) or www.eisai.eu (for Europe, Middle East, Africa, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand headquarters: Eisai Europe Ltd.), and connect with us on Twitter (U.S. and global) and LinkedIn (for U.S. and EMEA).
References:
1 Alzheimer’s Disease International. World Alzheimer Report 2021, Journey through the diagnosis of dementia.
2 The Milken Institute. Building Workforce Capacity to Improve Detection and Diagnosis of Dementia 2021.