Earlier answers for Alzheimer’s disease

By Kevin O'Reilly, Group Executive, Diagnostics, Danaher
Greg Milosevich, Executive Vice President, Life Sciences, Danaher 
Chris Riley, Executive Vice President, Biotechnology Group and CEO, Cytiva 

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most significant healthcare challenges of our time. Worldwide, more than 55 million people are living with dementia and AD accounts for an estimated 60% to 70% of those cases¹.  As populations age, the number of people affected by AD is expected to rise substantially in the decades ahead.

Today, many patients and families still face a lengthy, uncertain journey toward understanding their situation. Providing patients with clearer answers sooner has become a critical unmet need in the field, enabling more informed care choices, quicker access to specialists and support services, and increased chances to benefit from emerging therapies.

A growing challenge meets a diagnostic gap

For many patients, the path to diagnosis is complex and lengthy.

Definitive evidence of AD pathology has traditionally relied on approaches such as positron emission tomography (PET) imaging or cerebrospinal fluid testing obtained through lumbar puncture. While these tools have advanced our ability to understand and detect disease, they can be costly, invasive and difficult to access in many healthcare settings.

As a result, access to advanced diagnostic evaluation is often concentrated in specialized centers. Patients often wait months to see a neurologist, which can lead to missed chances for earlier diagnosis.

This reality creates a significant challenge for healthcare systems seeking to improve outcomes for patients living with AD.

Why earlier understanding matters

The AD landscape is changing.

Researchers continue to deepen our understanding of disease biology. Biomarkers are revealing signs of disease processes that begin years before symptoms become severe. Therapeutic innovation is accelerating, and a growing number of disease-modifying treatments are emerging across the field.

Across these advances, one principle has become increasingly important: earlier intervention will offer the greatest opportunity to influence the course of disease.

Patients and families can make better-informed treatment decisions when they gain a clearer understanding of the disease earlier in their journey.

If patients are to benefit from the full potential of emerging therapies, clinicians will need practical, scalable ways to understand the disease earlier and guide each person toward the most appropriate evaluation, treatment and support.

That makes diagnostics central to the future of AD care.

Bringing detection closer to patients

Among the most promising innovations in the field are blood-based biomarkers.

Blood-based biomarkers have the potential to transform where and when AD is evaluated. Compared with traditional diagnostic pathways, blood-based testing has the potential to expand access, reduce barriers to evaluation, integrate more easily into routine healthcare workflows and support assessment earlier in the patient journey.

Importantly, blood-based biomarkers could help move aspects of AD evaluation closer to community healthcare settings and primary care environments, making advanced diagnostic insight available to more patients.

However, the implications extend beyond convenience.

More accessible testing could help connect patients to specialists sooner, support clinical decision-making, improve research recruitment and help healthcare systems manage the growing burden of neurodegenerative disease more effectively.

Building the foundation for progress

The promise of blood-based diagnostics depends on a strong scientific foundation that translates biological insight into reliable and scalable clinical tools. Advancing AD care requires discovery science, biomarker research, data analytics, diagnostics, therapeutic innovation, clinical implementation, and healthcare delivery to move forward together.

High-quality antibodies are one example of the foundational technologies that enable progress. They help researchers identify and validate biomarkers, deepen understanding of disease biology, and support development of assays capable of detecting subtle biological signals associated with AD.

Antibodies are only one piece of a much larger puzzle.

At Danaher, we bring together capabilities across the AD journey. Abcam helps researchers understand the underlying biology of AD with validated antibodies and sensitive assays. SCIEX technologies support accurate and sensitive biomarker detection and quantitation. Genedata helps scientists scientists derive actionable insights from increasingly complex biomarker data. Beckman Coulter Diagnostics contributes expertise in translating scientific advances into scalable diagnostic clinical solutions. Cytiva supports the development and manufacture of multiple innovative Alzheimer’s disease therapies, including approaches that target key drivers of disease progression. 

Together, these capabilities help bridge gaps between scientific discovery and patient care.

By bringing researchers, clinicians, healthcare organizations, and industry partners together, scientific ecosystems can help accelerate the journey from promising science to meaningful patient impact.

The future of AD care depends on collaboration

The next decade of AD care will not be defined by a single breakthrough. It will be defined by our ability to connect breakthroughs.

Realizing the potential of emerging therapies will require a clearer understanding of each patient’s disease, so clinicians and patients can make informed decisions about the most appropriate treatment.

As the global community comes together during World AD Month, we are reminded that awareness alone is not enough. Continued progress requires the partnerships, technologies and scientific ecosystems needed to bring earlier diagnosis and more effective care within reach of more patients.

Advancing AD care demands deeper collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem. Researchers, clinicians, healthcare systems, diagnostics innovators, therapeutic developers, patient advocates and industry partners each have a role to play.

At Danaher, we are committed to helping build those connections. By combining scientific expertise, enabling technologies, advanced diagnostics and strategic partnerships, we can help accelerate progress toward a future where more patients receive answers earlier, access care sooner and benefit from the full potential of scientific innovation.

1. Alzheimer’s Disease International https://www.alzint.org/about/dementia-facts-figures/dementia-statistics/