Roche and BARDA: partnering for better brain health

TBI refers to brain dysfunction caused by an external force, which can range in severity from mild (concussion) to moderate to severe. Alarmingly, studies suggest that TBI diagnosis can be missed or delayed,1,2,3 with a need for patients with these injuries to receive a faster and more accurate diagnosis to enable more effective medical treatment. 

With this agreement, Roche and the BARDA Burn and Blast Medical Countermeasures Program are committing to developing  new diagnostic technologies that address this significant health issue that impacts healthcare systems and mass casualty preparedness around the world.

TBI is alarmingly common, with roughly 69 million people worldwide4 experiencing one annually. This staggering number highlights the need for increased awareness, preventive measures, and importance of diagnostic tools to determine the severity of such an injury. 

Causes of TBI can include:

• Road traffic accidents

• Falls

• Sports and recreational activities

• Violence 

• Military blast incidents

The partnership will explore the development of solutions that could aid in the diagnosis of TBI, monitor secondary event development in TBI patients and a rule out test for the need of head CT scans in mild TBI patients. 

The consequences of TBI can potentially lead to long-term disabilities. Patients with TBI may experience a variety of symptoms including cognitive deficits, motor impairments, emotional disturbances, and behavioural changes. The impact extends beyond the individual to families, healthcare systems, and societies at large, emphasising the need for effective management and support systems, as well as partnerships such as this one to drive better outcomes for patients facing this neurological injury. 

In current practice, neuroimaging (CT and sometimes MRI) is the main diagnostic tool, however, it is relatively expensive, and healthcare systems may have limited access during mass casualty incidents. Furthermore, neuroimaging is not sensitive enough to diagnose all types of TBIs and to predict the outcome5. It is thus difficult to stratify patients in the milder range of TBI and decide whether they demand immediate intervention, further observation and follow-up. 

Therefore, a blood based test in combination with clinical, physiological, or imaging covariates, could help healthcare professionals to quickly and efficiently stratify the patients with TBI in order to perform further interventions as early as possible, preventing permanent damage, and help to predict outcomes and monitor treatment effects.

The aim of the collaboration  is to bring all claims to market in what would potentially result in a significant change in the diagnosis and treatment paradigm for TBI.