Diadem Names Dr. Tamas Bartfai Chair of Its Medical Advisory Board

MILAN, Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Diadem srl, a company developing the first blood-based test for the early prediction of Alzheimer's disease (AD), today announced that noted neuroscientist and Alzheimer's disease researcher Tamas Bartfai, PhD, has been named Chair of its Medical Advisory Board (MAB). Dr. Bartfai brings a unique combination of broad industry and academic research experience to Diadem. The Diadem MAB includes other well-known international AD experts representing a variety of disciplines, including Jeffrey Cummings, MD, ScD, Joy Chambers-Grundy Professor of Brain Science and Director of the Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience at the University of Las Vegas; Robert Dean, MD, PhD, formerly Senior Medical Fellow and Director of the Department of Diagnostics & Experimental Medicine at Eli Lilly & Co.; Anne Fagan, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Biomarker Core Leader at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; and Giovanni Frisoni, MD, PhD, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience and Head of the Memory Clinic at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

"We are fortunate to have an MAB comprised of distinguished world-class neuroscientists and are delighted that Professor Bartfai is coming onboard as Chair," said Paul Kinnon, CEO of Diadem. "Tamas brings us his exceptionally broad experience in the discovery and development of important new therapies for neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. His work spans major academic research organizations, global pharmaceutical leaders and biotech enterprises. The breadth of his experience and his deep knowledge of existing and cutting-edge neurological research should be invaluable as we advance Diadem's innovative blood-based prognostic test for AD."

Dr. Bartfai is an international expert in the development of drugs targeting neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. Formerly, Dr. Bartfai was a Professor and Chairman of Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences and Director of the Dorris Neuroscience Center at the Scripps Research Institute, as well as an Adjunct Professor at Stockholm University, the University of Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania. Over the past decades, Dr. Bartfai has served as a drug development senior executive or consultant to numerous pharmaceutical companies, including Astra Zeneca, Roche, Novartis and Pfizer. He has been a consultant to biotech venture capitalists and also helped launch a number of biotech start-ups. Dr. Bartfai participated in the development of about a dozen approved drugs for neurological diseases and other conditions. He is the author or co-author of more than 400 peer-reviewed publications and several books and is the recipient of awards for his pioneering work on neuropeptides and other topics. Dr. Bartfai earned a BSc degree from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and a PhD from Stockholm University.

Dr. Bartfai commented, "Improved treatments for AD will require broad access to better ways of predicting and diagnosing the disorder, since we know the pathology begins years before symptoms appear. I am optimistic about the potential of Diadem's blood-based biomarker approach to help make early AD prognosis feasible and widely accessible, which is critical in view of the global scale and large numbers of people at risk for this devastating disorder. I look forward to working with the talented Diadem scientific team and distinguished MAB members to help advance this program that has game-changing potential."

The other MAB members include:

Jeffrey Cummings, MD, ScD, a world-renowned Alzheimer's researcher and clinical trials leader. He is the Joy Chambers-Grundy Professor of Brain Science and Director of the Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience at the University of Las Vegas. Previously he was Founding Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Dr. Cummings was also Director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Director of the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics, both at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Robert Dean, MD, PhD, who served as a Senior Medical Fellow and Clinical Research Pathologist
at Eli Lilly & Company for more than 20 years, focusing on biomarker discovery with application to translational research for diagnostics and pharmaceutical development. As Director of the Department of Diagnostics & Experimental Medicine at Lilly, Dr. Dean worked in support of numerous diagnostics development programs, including those for neurodegenerative disease.

Anne Fagan, PhD, is a Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is an expert in the development of biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease, especially before symptoms appear. Dr. Fagan leads the biomarker core for large multi-site studies and biobanks and was instrumental in developing the biomarkers program at the Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). She is an ADRC investigator and serves as the Biomarker Core Leader for several large national and international research programs. For years she and her lab have also been involved in global biomarker standardization efforts for neurological diseases, with the goal of bringing validated biomarkers to clinical practice.

Giovanni Frisoni, MD, PhD, is a world leading imaging expert and Professor of Clinical Neuroscience and Head of the Memory Clinic at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva. He is a researcher at the university's Neurocenter, which focuses on clinical and translational research in Alzheimer's disease, especially the use of neuroimaging and other biomarkers in persons with or at risk for cognitive impairment. Dr. Frisoni has served as the principal or co-principal investigator or scientific coordinator for important research studies that have progressed clinical neuroimaging and the understanding of AD and other cognitive disorders, and he has published widely on these topics.

Diadem's AlzoSure^® is a plasma-based biomarker test that has been validated in early studies to accurately predict the probability a patient with mild cognitive impairment will progress to Alzheimer's disease. Further clinical studies are currently underway, and the company plans a global launch in collaboration with strategic partners in 2021.  

About Alzheimer's Disease
There are about 50 million people suffering from dementia worldwide. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form and accounts for 60-70% of cases. At present there are no disease modifying treatments for Alzheimer's, and therapies to treat symptoms are limited There are about 10 million new cases per year, and the incidence is rising rapidly as the population ages. The current total cost of care is enormous--estimated at 1 trillion dollars in the U.S. annually and expected to double by 2030. Currently, diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is slow, inconclusive, invasive and expensive. Development of effective therapies for Alzheimer's  has been hindered by the lack of accurate and cost-effective diagnostic and prognostic methods.

About Diadem
Diadem was founded in 2012 as a spin-off of the University of Brescia (Italy). The company is developing the first blood-based prognostic test for the early detection of dementia, with a focus on Alzheimer's disease. The lack of accurate, accessible and affordable diagnostic tools is a major contributor to the absence  of effective treatments for this devastating condition. As a result, patients are not diagnosed until late in the illness, when effective treatment is no longer possible. Diadem's rapid, accurate, cost-effective and predictive blood-based prognostic test for the first time makes it possible to identify patients early in the disease process, when effective interventions and better outcomes are far more feasible. The utility of the approach has been demonstrated in early clinical studies. Additional retrospective and prospective clinical trials are planned to further validate clinical claims and support widespread adoption and use. Diadem's founding and lead investor is Milan-based Panakes Partners, a venture capital firm that finances promising high potential biomedical companies in Europe and Israel. Diadem is preparing for rapid commercialisation of its initial Alzheimer's prognostic via a global launch in collaboration with strategic partners, targeted for 2021. For more information, visit www.diademdx.com/

SOURCE Diadem srl

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