Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Tuesday that it had received clearance from health safety regulators to sell a new blood test for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease in the European Union.
Doctor Taking Blood Sample From Patient’s Arm in Hospital for Medical Testing/ iStock
The Elecsys pTau217 blood test developed with the US laboratory Eli Lilly measures irregularities in protein structures that can cause the neurodegenerative disease, the company said in a statement.
Easier and less uncomfortable than the existing method of taking a spinal fluid sample, the blood test has received the “CE” marking indicating that it meets the EU’s health safety standards.
The chief executive of the group’s subsidiary Roche Diagnostics, Matt Sause, said the launch of the test marked “a significant step” in providing a diagnosis “much earlier”.
“By bringing this advanced test into routine care, we are helping physicians to support patients and families with an earlier assessment that is critical for timely intervention,” he said in the statement.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, but it currently takes an average of three and a half years for it to be diagnosed, Roche said.
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