The path to approved Alzheimer's treatments starts with a better way to diagnose patients. Bill Gates and ADDF Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder partnered to adopt a new approach that brings together philanthropic capital with a venture mindset to advance bold ideas for easier, more accurate, and earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Currently available tests for Alzheimer's are expensive and invasive. The development of reliable and affordable biomarker tests for Alzheimer’s— just as cholesterol is an early biomarker for heart disease risk— has the potential to revolutionize how we approach the disease. Biomarkers will allow us to better understand how the disease progresses, improve clinical trial design, and more accurately monitor response to treatments. All are critical to the development of effective drugs for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s.
Launched in July 2018, the Diagnostics Accelerator has mobilized commitments totaling $100 million from Bill Gates, Leonard A. Lauder, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), Eli Lilly & Company, Biogen, the Shanahan Family Foundation, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, and others.
A CALL-TO-ACTION TO THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY
The Diagnostics Accelerator challenges the research community to develop cutting-edge biomarkers and explore novel diagnostic technologies that will aid in Alzheimer’s diagnosis and clinical trial design. Research funded to date focuses on various methods and targets including blood tests in various stages of development, as well as eye scans and digital tools.
These awards focus on true collaboration among renown clinicians, who are directly involved with patients and understand the disease, scientists who are developing the tests, and diagnostics companies that understand the regulatory pathways – driving research and product development.
