# Plasma Abeta isoform concentrations in cognitively impaired patients at risk for amyloidosis

> **NIH NIH R44** · C2N DIAGNOSTICS, LLC · 2020 · $383,958

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
For a long time, the study of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in humans has been hampered by the fact that
absolute AD diagnosis could only be ascertained by assessment of brain pathology upon autopsy. More
recently, imaging agents have become available that allow direct imaging of the two hallmarks of AD
(amyloid plaques and tau tangles) in living humans. However, these imaging agents are expensive and
invasive for use in routine diagnostics. The need for low-cost blood based diagnostic assays has never been
greater. C2N Diagnostics has been developing mass spectrometry based assays that investigate amyloid
beta peptides in biofluids since 2007. Recent advances in sample cleanup, purification of amyloid beta, and
mass spectrometry instrumentation have made it possible to reliably quantify amyloid beta in human
plasma samples. Preliminary data from Dr. Randall Bateman’s laboratory at Washington University shows
that the ratio of two amyloid beta peptides in plasma can predict the presence of amyloid plaques in the
brain. This technology could revolutionize the field of AD diagnostics, and when presented at the
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July 2017, this discovery was pronounced as “by far
the biggest news of the meeting” by one of the key opinion leaders in AD clinical research. The specific aims
of this SBIR Fast-Track application are to analytically and clinically validate C2N’s plasma assay for use as a
diagnostic test for predicting brain amyloidosis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9928386
- **Project number:** 5R44AG059489-03
- **Recipient organization:** C2N DIAGNOSTICS, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Tim West
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $383,958
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-15 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9928386

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9928386, Plasma Abeta isoform concentrations in cognitively impaired patients at risk for amyloidosis (5R44AG059489-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9928386. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*