New study for early detection of Alzheimer’s shows promising results
Seattle biotech startup AltPep and researchers at the University of Washington announced promising results from a new study on the early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease. AltPep’s diagnostic, which analyzes blood plasma, caught the neurodegenerative disease in 100% of the samples from patients symptomatic for Alzheimer’s.
Valerie Daggett, a UW bioengineering professor and CEO of AltPep, hopes the company can get FDA approval for the assay over the next 12 months and start commercialization. In addition to the work on the diagnostic assay, the 5-year-old startup is also developing a treatment for Alzheimer’s and researching a test and treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
The company recently held a grand opening for its new lab, located inside a new life sciences building that’s part of a growing biotech hub in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The move will allow for more space, and subsequent hiring growth, for the company.