For most diseases, there’s a good test for detecting it, and it’s usually early on when there’s a good chance of favorable treatment. This holds true for cancer, heart disease, hypertension and even some mental illness. Unfortunately, this is not the case for Alzheimer’s disease, the neurodegenerative condition that was first diagnosed in 1906. Yet 100+ years later, there still is not a single conclusive tests that can effectively diagnose the condition.
Today the process of diagnosis begins with a cognitive test. If patients don’t perform well doctors begin the process of elimination, ruling out other issues that affect memory loss such as stroke and nutritional deficiency. Once other conditions are eliminated, which can be a lengthy process, doctors can order a spinal tap or PET scan to confirm an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. While these tests are mostly accurate, spinal taps are painful and invasive and scans require patients to lie still for 40+ minutes, which is difficult for anyone, especially someone suffering from Alzheimer’s. In both cases, these expensive tests are not covered by most insurance plans.
The biggest issues with this diagnostic process is that Alzheimer’s can’t be definitively diagnosed until autopsy. Additionally, patients aren’t tested for the disease until they have started to show signs of cognitive decline. We’ve learned from research that the disease actually begins more than ten years before symptoms emerge. It is the belief of many doctors that the best chance at positive outcomes is to start treatment as soon as damage begins. And Bill Gates wants to do something about that.
Gates’s father was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He decided to invest $100 million in Alzheimer’s research in 2017 and today announced that his latest investment in Alzheimer’s research is a new fund called Diagnostic Accelerator. This project of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) aims to accelerate bold new ideas for earlier and better diagnosis of the disease. Gates is teaming up with Leonard Lauder, ADDF, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, and other donors in committing more than $30 millionto help launch Diagnostics Accelerator.
The hope is that such a diagnostic test would help the 14 million people expected to be affected by the brain disorder in the U.S. by 2050 with the chance to come to terms with their condition, and perhaps, if new treatments are developed, even take advantage of these therapies as early as possible.
According to Gates, Diagnostics Accelerator is a venture philanthropy vehicle, which means it’s different from most funds. While investments from governments or charitable organizations are great at generating new ideas and cutting-edge research, they aren’t always the greatest at creating usable products, since no one stands to make a profit at the end of the day. Venture capital, on the other end of the spectrum, is more likely to develop a test that will actually reach patients, but its financial model favors projects that will earn big returns for investors.
Venture philanthropy splits the difference. “It incentivizes a bold, risk-taking approach to research with an end goal of a real product for real patients,” Gates says. “If any of the projects backed by Diagnostics Accelerator succeed, our share of the financial windfall goes right back into the fund.”
Gates hopes that this investment will build a bridge from academic research to a reliable, affordable and accessible diagnostic tool for Alzheimer’s disease. His goal is a world where diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is as simple as getting your blood tested during your annual physical. Research suggests this could be a reality in the near future and we applaud Gates on this bold and important move in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
Source: Gatesnotes