PrecivityAD™ Test Success Leads to Attention and Growth
The positive reaction continues to C2N Diagnostics’ launch of the PrecivityAD™ blood test for aiding in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Fierce Medtech, an international news service for the med tech industry, named C2N one of its Fierce 15 for 2020. The outlet says it selected the company for this designation because it’s “one of the most promising private companies in the industry.”
“Each member of this year’s class of Fierce 15 stands out in a different way, but they all overcame a year of unforgettable obstacles, making each of their successes that much more significant — and all have the potential to deliver changes in healthcare that promise to outlast this pandemic,” says Conor Hale, associate editor of Fierce Medtech.
In addition, Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, a neurologist and the director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, explained the PrecivityAD™ blood test has shown great promise.
Being Patient wrote that “In a major breakthrough…[C2N] developed one of the first Alzheimer’s blood tests, the PrecivityAD test, for 60+ year old people with cognitive impairment who are seeking Alzheimer’s testing…the test measures proteins in the blood that indicate the probability of amyloid in the brain.” https://bit.ly/3szSAFn
The Business Journal reported that this success has led the company to start moving into a new 14,000-square-foot lab and office facility near Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
Ask the Expert
We’re beginning a regular feature highlighting experts and answers to questions. We begin with Kevin Yarasheski, Ph.D., senior vice president for C2N.
Question to Kevin: What is mass spectrometry and what is the role it plays in the PrecivityAD™ blood test?
Kevin’s Answer: The PrecivityAD™ test aims to help physicians better determine the presence or absence of amyloid plaques in the brain, one of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s disease. A critical part of this innovation is the mass spectrometry-based technique employed by C2N.
A mass spectrometer is a device that produces charged particles (ions) from biological substances and biomarkers present in complex tissues and fluids like blood. The platform then uses electric and magnetic fields to measure the mass of the charged particles.
Mass spectrometry has dramatically grown in use over the past decade as a precise analytical tool that identifies compounds based on the mass(es) of their molecular components, fragments, and their charge state(s). This has significant implications for the field of clinical diagnostics.
When used in blood tests to detect pathological markers of Alzheimer’s disease, mass spectrometers provide high analytical specificity. This technology is providing heightened levels of accuracy in pathological identification that scientists are harnessing for needed breakthroughs in medicine, such as in the field of Alzheimer’s disease . Researchers are also using it to detect the presence of COVID-19 proteins/peptides in human biofluids.
Mass spectrometry has high sensitivity and specificity for detecting and quantifying known and novel low abundance biomarkers in blood products.
PrecivityAD™ Made History in 2020
Many influential organizations chose the PrevicityAD™ blood test one of the top medical breakthroughs of the year:
Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation named the PrecivityAD™ blood test one of its top 5 highlights of 2020; it’s the first commercially available blood test to help with “early Alzheimer’s detection and diagnosis.” Howard Fillit, MD, says, “the fact that there is now an Alzheimer’s blood test on the market is just amazing.”
NBC News put the PrecivityAD™ blood test on its list of top 2020 medical accomplishments.
TheScientist selected it as one of the biggest science news stories of the year.
Princeton Magazine included the test in its round-up of medical research and scientific lab successes.
In the News
Barron’s reported on the PrecivityAD™ blood test: “There has also been progress around biomarkers and blood tests that could help with early detection—crucial since the disease can emerge decades before symptoms…”
Morning Consult published an op-ed by George Vradenburg, the co-founder and chairman of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. and Dr. Howard Fillit, the founding executive director and chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and a clinical professor of geriatric medicine and palliative care, medicine and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The piece stated “the pace of progress is moving even faster than anticipated. C2N Diagnostics announced the introduction of the first blood-based biomarker diagnostic test, PrecivityAD, which reliably and accurately predicts the presence or absence of brain amyloid, an essential and early marker of Alzheimer’s.”
For new news and updates, please visit https://precivityad.com.