Cytox publishes research showing genoSCORE-LAB test can predict risk of cognitive decline due to Alzheimer’s without invasive procedures

genoSCORE™-LAB a new genetic test to launch in 2020 enables early assessment of patients with cognitive complaints from a simple saliva or blood sample

17th November 2020: Oxford and Manchester, UK.  Cytox Ltd, which provides non-invasive, risk assessment and patient stratification tools for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia, has published new research in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease (JPAD) (https://rdcu.be/caGKD) on its genetic test, genoSCORE^TM-LAB to predict the risk of cognitive decline due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

The new research shows that the test is comparable to existing amyloid and tau biomarker tests in predicting the risk of cognitive decline. However, genoSCORE-LAB only requires a saliva or blood sample compared with an invasive lumbar puncture, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) extraction. Indeed, genoSCORE-LAB’s simplicity of sampling enables elderly and vulnerable patients self-isolating due to COVID-19, or not wishing or easily able to attend healthcare settings, to provide a suitable sample from home.

Furthermore, genoSCORE-LAB provides a more comprehensive analysis of genetic risk for AD, than many current genetic tests. Such existing tests look at an individual’s APOE4 status, a major genetic component of risk in late-onset AD. However, genoSCORE-LAB provides additional information on the genetic risk of cognitive decline due to AD in all individuals, thereby providing a more comprehensive risk stratification tool in both carriers and non-carriers of the APOE4 risk allele.

Clinicians can use genoSCORE-LAB for early assessment of patients with cognitive complaints, gaining insight into their risk of cognitive decline due to AD, prior to invasive CSF testing or expensive scanning procedures. Understanding the risks of cognitive decline can help guide patient lifestyle choices to mitigate the risks of disease progression.

Additionally, developers of new AD drug therapies can use genoSCORE-LAB to identify and recruit patients to clinical studies, ensuring the selection of the most suitable candidates, those most likely to experience cognitive decline over the time period of the study, regardless of APOE status.

Dr. Alex Gibson, Business Development Officer of Cytox, and corresponding author of the paper commented: “The results of these analyses show that our polygenic risk scoring algorithms, which have been designed to understand the genetic risk of future onset of Alzheimer’s disease, avoid the need for invasive procedures in all patients, and can be applied within a recruitment strategy to enrich trial populations with individuals who are more likely to decline cognitively within the time period of the trial. This is a critical factor when developing new drugs, as it increases the ability to observe prevention and delay of cognitive decline through administration of the test drug.” 

Dr. Richard Pither, CEO of Cytox, commented: “Globally there are an estimated 10 million new cases of dementia each year, of which at least a half are Alzheimer’s disease. The disease is estimated to cost healthcare systems billions of dollars a year and is rising. We believe that genoSCORE-LAB has a valuable role to play in both the management of new patients, and the development of new drugs to treat the disease.”