NEW YORK – Alzheimer's testing firm C2N Diagnostics said Friday that it has entered a partnership with Japanese clinical research company Mediford Corp.
Under the agreement, Mediford will provide drug developers with access to C2N's Biopharma Clinical Research Services, which offer mass spec-based assays for quantification and monitoring proteins, peptides, and other biomolecules linked to human neurological diseases.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
C2N's Precivity-AD blood biomarker test was used in the Clarity AD clinical trial for Eisai and Biogen's Alzheimer's drug Leqembi (lecanemab), and its Precivity-p-tau217 blood biomarker was used in the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 clinical trial for Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's drug donanemab. The company's blood biomarkers are also being used in the AHEAD 3-45 that is evaluating the safety and efficacy of preventive treatment with Leqembi of individuals at high risk for future development of clinical AD.
"Japan is a vitally important country in the Alzheimer’s research sector, as both a leading technology innovation hub and also a region of the world where society places a high premium on healthy aging of its citizens," C2N CEO Joel Braunstein said in a statement. "Mediford Corp. is known for providing clinical and nonclinical analysis that supports each stage of drug research and development, including advanced treatment options. We believe this collaboration provides an excellent pathway to reaching clinical trial researchers and drugmakers searching for the newest treatment solutions and products."
"We’ve closely examined the options for offering blood tests to assess for Alzheimer’s pathology and concluded that C2N's blood biomarker testing for clinical trial and treatment monitoring delivers one of the highest standard," Mediford President Kei Shimizu said in a statement. "C2N's assays have been used in over 150 Alzheimer’s disease and other research studies throughout the United States and the world; this includes globally impactful treatment and prevention trials involving disease-modifying therapies that are changing the outlook of Alzheimer’s disease."
C2N also said that it has appointed Maki Hoshiko as the lead for its Japan strategy and scientific collaborations.