NeoNeuro Receives Investment from ADDF
NeoNeuro announced today that the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) invested in the company through its Diagnostics Accelerator. The initiative aims to fast-track development of novel biomarkers for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The investment supports the project titled “Extension study to determine brain Aβ status in blood with Aptamarkers.” Through this funding, NeoNeuro will expand research on using Aptamarkers to detect brain amyloid status in blood samples. The award enables NeoNeuro to analyze samples from 500 individuals across multiple cohorts. These cohorts include the Australian Imaging, Biomarker & Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing. By studying this large, diverse dataset, NeoNeuro aims to validate Aptamarkers’ ability to predict brain amyloid status. This research supports earlier detection of Alzheimer’s disease.
NeoNeuro pioneered the use of aptamers, single-stranded oligonucleotides that mimic antibodies by binding to target molecules. “We use enriched aptamer libraries in a non-hypothesis-driven, agnostic approach to discover biomarkers,” said Gregory Penner, PhD, President & Founder. “These biomarkers include proteins, metabolites, non-coding RNA, and complexes of these molecules.”
“We then use Aptamarkers as a tool to measure these biomarkers directly,” Dr. Penner added. This approach moves beyond linear associations between single biomarkers and a trait. It employs machine learning to delineate patterns across many interrelated biomarkers.
Dr. Penner explained, “Substantial advances in treating diseases like cancer first required earlier, more personalized diagnosis.” “For complex diseases like Alzheimer’s, more advanced diagnostic approaches are necessary to achieve similar outcomes.”
Howard Fillit, M.D., Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer at ADDF, said: “Alzheimer’s is a complex disease caused by many factors. NeoNeuro’s biomarker program uses machine learning to accelerate discovery.” “This approach develops the biomarkers needed to create effective treatments for the disease.”
About the Diagnostics Accelerator
In July 2018, leading philanthropists created the Diagnostics Accelerator, committing nearly $50 million through partners, including ADDF Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Bezos, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, and The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, to develop novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
About the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation
Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder founded the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation in 1998 to rapidly accelerate the discovery of drugs that prevent, treat, and cure Alzheimer’s disease. As the only public charity solely focused on funding Alzheimer’s drug development, the ADDF employs a venture philanthropy model to support research in both academia and the biotech industry. Thanks to its donors’ generosity, the ADDF has awarded over $150 million to fund more than 626 Alzheimer’s drug discovery programs and clinical trials across 19 countries. To learn more, http://www.alzdiscovery.org/.