Improving the patient journey

Alzheimer’s disease  can be a challenging diagnosis for the people living with this devastating condition and their families. However, thanks to decades of effort, the community is  at the beginning of a new, more hopeful era, with two disease-modifying therapies recently becoming available. While there is still a way to go, the confluence of advances in biological knowledge and technological breakthroughs is beginning to pave a new path in diagnosing and treating the disease.

Roche is uniquely committed to every step of the patient journey in Alzheimer’s disease, from developing better diagnostics to identify the disease in a more timely and less burdensome manner, to pursuing innovative new therapeutic strategies to treat the disease. Importantly, the Roche Group’s set-up of having both a Diagnostics and a Pharma division under one roof, enables them to collaborate extensively and leverage their respective strengths to drive progress. “The Roche vision is to transform the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease: to detect earlier and diagnose accurately so that individuals can benefit from the available therapies,” said Sasha Bozeat, Global External Engagement and Scientific Collaborations Lead for Neurodegeneration in Roche Product Development Medical Affairs. “We’re here to do what’s best for people living with Alzheimer’s for the long haul.”

Just one example of the close collaboration between Diagnostics and Pharma is the highly successful NeuroToolKit (NTK), a set of assays Roche developed to track components of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and later of the blood, in neurodegenerative disease. The NTK effort arose in 2017 in response to the need of Pharma for new assays to test potential medicines. The tight collaboration between Pharma, who provided samples and guidance, and Diagnostics, with its strengths in assay development, led to a robust set of assays now widely used to advance research both within and outside of Roche. 

“With NTK, we can get so much information out of one CSF and blood sample, assessing effects on multiple readouts such as inflammation, neurodegeneration, and pathology markers,” said Luka Kulic, Therapeutic Area Leader for Dementias and Expert Scientist and Medical Director within Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) Neuroscience and Rare Diseases. “NTK increases confidence in our research and development work.”

The blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease now included in the NTK, as well as in other contexts, are a notable recent breakthrough of their own. “A couple of years ago, blood-based diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease didn’t seem possible,” said Margherita Carboni, Clinical Development Lead in Diagnostics. “Now, however, in addition to the CSF diagnostics currently on the market, blood tests are on their way to the clinic.”

“By making these more accessible and affordable tests available, people living with Alzheimer’s and their families will be able to get a lot of answers from a single blood draw, which will allow them to better plan and make lifestyle changes that could improve disease outcomes,” Margherita said. “With blood-based diagnostics,” she added, “we will bring something to the community that will improve lives.”

Meanwhile, in addition to collaborating with Diagnostics to develop better assays to detect Alzheimer’s disease earlier and more easily, Roche Pharma, too, is innovating in multiple ways. First, it is exploring a variety of potential targets in Alzheimer’s disease-related pathways, including novel targets beyond amyloid and tau. Second, it is leveraging a wide range of  innovative therapeutic modalities and platforms, such as the BrainshuttleTM technology platform, that allows the delivery of novel medicines more effectively to the brain.

Roche not only collaborates between its own divisions, but also partners with external companies and academic researchers to accelerate discovery and understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, and to ultimately improve patients’ lives. 

For example, Roche Diagnostics also works closely with other pharmaceutical companies working on developing Alzheimer’s disease treatments, and Roche is an active member of many Alzheimer’s disease-focused consortia and studies, such as(DIAN), the(ADNI),(CPAD), and the“We’re very open to sharing data, because this helps further both the scientific understanding of the disease and the development of treatments,” Sasha said.

Roche is also committed to reflecting diversity in data gathering and clinical trials, to ensure that the developed diagnostics and therapies are effective for everyone. Towards this goal, ”Roche is conducting blood-based biomarker trials across multiple countries, leveraging both trial sites where more underrepresented minorities live, and doing outreach via a blood collection bus to traditionally underserved areas,” Margherita explained.

Taken together, these initiatives demonstrate Roche’s strong, long-term dedication to developing solutions across the disease continuum — perhaps one day, even before the onset of disease. 

“Roche is committed to transforming every step of the Alzheimer’s disease journey,” Luka said, summarizing Roche’s bold vision to improve the lives of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.