24 October 2018, Dunfermline, Scotland, Optos Plc, a subsidiary of Nikon Corporation, Japan, and Amydis, Inc. today announced a clinical alliance focused on the development of an eye test by Amydis to detect Alzheimer’s disease. Amydis has developed a pipeline of compounds to detect amyloid proteins in the retina to be visualized with Optos’ market-leading optomap ultra-widefield retinal imaging devices to diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease in patients.
Through this alliance, Optos and Amydis will collaborate on the clinical development of Amydis’ test for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease. The partnership will combine Optos’ market leadership with its proprietary ultra-widefield technology and strong commercial presence among eyecare specialists, with Amydis’ first in class, proprietary compounds to expand Optos’ market opportunity into the field of neurodegeneration. These compounds bind to specific biomarkers in the retina and fluoresce making them visible with an optomap retinal camera. Together, Optos and Amydis will work to provide an innovative medical solution to assist physicians and pharmaceutical companies discovering therapeutic interventions and address the large unmet clinical need for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s patients.
Robert Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer, Optos commented, “We are proud of the ongoing use of optomap imaging devices in clinical research to visualize biomarkers in the retina associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. This clinical collaboration with Amydis supports Optos’ vision to help physicians diagnose and monitor disease by studying the retina. We are pleased to work with Amydis in this important alliance and the benefit it may bring to patients suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.”
Stella Sarraf, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Amydis commented, “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.”
About Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease and the most common form of dementia. It is officially the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Research shows that damage to the brain starts 15 to 20 years before problems become evident. There are currently no treatments that will stop or reverse the progress of Alzheimer's disease. One of the key barriers to the development of treatments for Alzheimer's disease is the ability to noninvasively and inexpensively diagnose patients, and to screen and identify people at risk that might benefit from disease-modifying therapies in clinical development at an early stage. Early and accurate diagnosis could save up to $7.9 Trillion in medical and care costs.
About Optos
Optos is the leading ultra-widefield retinal imaging company, acquired by Nikon in 2015. Its core technology, ultra-widefield (UWF™) high-resolution digital images (optomap®) capture approximately 82% and 200◦ of the retina, something no other device is capable of doing in a single image. In 2018, the company announced a new product offering that combines ultra-widefield retinal imaging and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. For more information about Optos, please visit www.optos.com.
About Amydis
Amydis, Inc., founded in 2013, is a privately-held company focused on developing proprietary compounds designed to detect diseases that involve the presence of amyloid proteins. Our mission is to develop a simple, non-invasive eye test to identify patients at risk for amyloid-associated diseases that is faster, more accessible, and more affordable than current tests. Amydis has a platform of novel compounds that fluoresce when bound to amyloid proteins, thus enabling visual diagnosis of such diseases. The Company’s most advanced program targets early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Other development programs include the detection of Parkinson’s disease, Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Traumatic Brain Injury, all of which are associated with the presence of amyloid proteins. For more information on Amydis, please visit www.amydis.com.
Optos Contact: Leslie Amodei, VP, Global Marketing, (508) 787-1414, Lamodei@optos.com
Amydis Contact: Jeff Rona, Chief Financial Officer, (303) 523-4014, Jeff@amydis.com