Millipore and Proteome Sciences Plc have signed an exclusive license agreement to develop new products that will help to advance the study of Alzheimer's disease.

Under the terms of the agreement, Millipore will develop Luminex bead-based multiplex immunoassays to measure Proteome Sciences' proprietary Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. The ability to quickly test for these biomarkers will enable researchers to develop new drugs and diagnostics to treat and monitor patients with Alzheimer's.

This will be a key step in the development of clinical tests for Alzheimer's disease. These diagnostics will help scientists more precisely diagnose and monitor Alzheimer's disease in its early stages, which are critically important, Christopher Pearce, CEO, Proteome Sciences'.

Proteome Sciences has established a strong portfolio of patent-protected blood biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease working in collaboration with the Institute of Psychiatry at the King's College, London. A number of these biomarkers have been independently identified and their relationship to Alzheimer's disease confirmed by researchers at GlaxoSmithKline.

"By expanding our portfolio of multiplex immunoassays targeting Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, we will complement our portfolio of products for neuroscience that includes antibodies and ELISAs, neural stem cells, specialty media, and cell-based high content analysis kits," said Jonathan DiVincenzo, president of Millipore's Bioscience Division. The development of a comprehensive multiplex Alzheimer's panel will accelerate research and ultimately lead to better monitoring as a clinical tool, he said.

Millipore will acquire the exclusive right to develop and sell Luminex bead-based panels for research related to the study of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive function disorders. Proteome Sciences retains all rights to clinical applications of these biomarkers.

In the US, around 5.3 million people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. A suspected new case is identified every 70 seconds in the US. It is fifth leading cause of death in persons over the age of 65. The costs for maintaining Alzheimer cases have exceeded $142 billion in 2005 with $112 billion being direct medical costs. Around 10 to 20 per cent of persons over the age of 65 have mild cognitive impairment that may develop into Alzheimer's disease.