Roche to collaborate with Lilly on early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

Roche (RHHBY) announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Eli Lilly (LLY) to support the development of Roche’s Elecsys Amyloid Plasma Panel, or EAPP, which it calls "an innovative blood test that aims to facilitate the earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease." Roche said: "Today, barriers to early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s exist across the globe with up to 75% of people living with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, but without a diagnosis. Those who have received a diagnosis waited, on average, 2.8 years after symptom onset. To address the growing strain that Alzheimer’s is putting on healthcare systems, it will be essential to make a person’s journey to diagnosis faster and more accessible. This will ultimately enable access to appropriate new therapies as they become available. This collaboration is aligned to both Roche and Lilly’s shared objective to support patients by improving the journey to a timely and accurate diagnosis and treatment. If approved, the EAPP test would be an additional tool to identify low likelihood of amyloid pathology in symptomatic patients and determine whether they should proceed to further evaluation and testing that may confirm a diagnosis."