The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease Announces Expansion of its Blood-Based Biomarker Workgroup in 2024
New blood-based biomarker resource hub launches online as part of broader awareness campaign
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 20th, 2024 - The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi) is excited to announce the second phase of its Blood-based Biomarker (BBM) Workgroup in 2024. Building on previous cross-sector collaboration, the BBM Workgroup’s efforts will focus on raising awareness among providers and key stakeholders about the potential of BBMs in the rapidly evolving Alzheimer’s landscape. This includes the launch, today, of a new resource center www.alzbiomarkerhub.org
“We are at an intersection of tremendous excitement yet challenge in Alzheimer's research and diagnostics,” said George Vradenburg, Convenor of CEOi. "The promise that blood tests hold to improve access to early diagnosis is promising and dramatic. Yet, amidst this excitement, we face barriers to widespread clinical adoption of blood tests that demand our collective attention and action. The efforts of the BBM Workgroup are designed to drive the consensus among stakeholders needed to assure that innovations in diagnosis will speedily deliver real benefits to patients.”
Launched in 2023, the CEOi BBM Workgroup includes a diverse group of stakeholders with the goal of preparing health-care systems and clinicians for the widespread adoption of BBMs to enable a simple, timely, and accurate Alzheimer’s diagnostic experience. With 90+ participants, including experts from healthcare, academia, non-profit, government, venture capital, industry, and patient advocacy, the first phase of the Workgroup made significant progress in developing use cases, test specifications, and identifying effective deployment strategies for BBMs in clinical practice. The BBM Workgroup aims to publish these recommendations in peer-reviewed journals early in 2024.
Expanding this work in 2024, the Workgroup aims to further unlock the potential of BBMs as a critical component in the fight to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease. This second phase will focus on raising awareness of findings in key primary and specialty provider arenas through education, communication and convening activities in partnership with leading medical societies.
With less invasive, cost-effective blood collection already integrated into routine clinical practice and offering greater scalability, equity, and accessibility, BBMs are more feasible in primary care settings than current testing modalities. To learn more about the CEOi BBM Workgroup, including its Workstreams, members, and objectives, and find the latest resources and information on BBMs, visit the CEOi BBM Workgroup website.
About CEOi: The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi), convened by UsAgainstAlzheimer’s in 2013, is an organization of global private-sector leaders from across the pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics, caregiving and financial sectors, who have joined together to provide business leadership in the fight against Alzheimer’s. CEOi partners with leaders from all sectors to transform the disease from a social, health, and economic crisis into an opportunity for healthy aging worldwide.
Media requests should be directed to: Emily Scholler, CEOi Director escholler@highlanterngroup.com