Eli Lilly and Company, a global healthcare leader, announced an arrangement to partner with Roche Diagnostics on its ongoing development of a commercially scalable cerebrospinal fluid assay for amyloid-beta 1-42.

Together with tau tangles, the presence of amyloid in the brain is a key marker of Alzheimer's disease, a condition with no cure that is estimated to impact more than 7.4 million Americans by 2025. Improving the ability of practicing clinicians to detect evidence of amyloid is an important step in being able to effectively manage the disease. Currently, healthcare providers can find evidence of amyloid in the living brain through two methods: a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) test and an amyloid brain positron emission tomography (PET) scan.

Under this non-exclusive agreement, Lilly is responsible for certain milestone payments upon successful completion of key development objectives. Roche is responsible for the development, registration, and commercialization of the new test.

"We are excited to partner with Roche Diagnostics on this important test," said Phyllis Ferrell, vice president of Lilly's Alzheimer's disease platform. "We share the same commitment to providing people with Alzheimer's disease the best care possible, which includes detection as well as diagnosis and education."

Alzheimer's disease is a fatal illness that causes progressive decline in memory and other aspects of cognition. It is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 per cent of dementia cases. An estimated 44 million people currently live with dementia worldwide. The number of people affected by dementia is expected to be more than 75 million in 2030 and 135 million in 2050. Estimates vary, but experts suggest that as many as 5.3 million Americans may have Alzheimer's disease.  

Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world.