Optos has announced a clinical alliance with pharmaceutical company Amydis focused on the development of an eye test to detect Alzheimer’s disease.
The companies have agreed to work on a medical solution to address ‘the large unmet clinical need for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s patients’. Optos chief executive officer Robert Kennedy said: ‘We are proud of the ongoing use of optomap imaging devices in clinical research to visualise biomarkers in the retina associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.’
Amydis has developed a pipeline of compounds to detect amyloid proteins in the retina to be visualised with Optos’ optomap retinal imaging devices. Compounds bind to specific biomarkers in the retina and fluoresce making them visible with a retinal camera.
Stella Sarraf, chief executive officer of Amydis, said: ‘We are very excited with the opportunity to use our targeted fluorescent probe technology with Optos’ ultra-widefield retinal cameras to develop a simple screening test to diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease.’