Detecting Parkinson Disease at Early Stages With Alpha-Synuclein Amplification Assay: Russell Lebovitz, MD, PhD

WATCH TIME: 6 minutes

"The idea that we can suddenly detect what is causing these diseases, and do it years before we have symptoms, is the hope for patients. We can develop drugs, and treat people at the very early stages, because unfortunately damage to the brain is mostly irreversible. So, to manage these diseases, we need to detect early, treat early, and that amounts to almost prevention, even though we already are on the path."

In 2019, the FDA granted Amprion a Breakthrough Device Designation for use of its SYNTap Biomarker Test in assisting for the diagnosis of Parkinson Disease (PD), becoming commercially available years later in 2021. The test is a first-in-class-qualitative Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) and the only seed amplification assay available to help with the diagnosis of synucleinopathies such as in PD, Lewy Body dementia (LBD), and Alzheimer Disease (AD) with the Lewy Body variant.¹

Recently, Andrew Siderowf, MD, director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Pennsylvania and coprincipal investigator for the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), gave an oral presentation at the 2023 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, April 22-27, in Boston, Massachusetts. In his presentation, Siderowf discussed how Amprion's α-synuclein seed amplification assay was utilized in the landmark recently published PPMI paper.

At the meeting, Russell Lebovitz, MD, PhD, CEO and cofounder of Amprion, sat down with NeurologyLive® in an interview to provide context into how SYNTap assay was developed and the significance of the technology in diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases such as PD by detecting aggregates of misfolded α-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid. Lebovitz also talked about how early detection of neurodegenerative diseases using Amprion’s technology can contribute to the development of drugs and clinical trials.

Click here for more coverage on AAN 2023.

REFERENCES
1. Amprion Announces Presentation of Findings Related to Usage of the αSynuclein Seed Amplification Assay in Recent Parkinson's Study at 2023 AAN Annual Meeting. News Release. Published April 21, 2023. Accessed May 10, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amprion-announces-presentation-of-findings-related-to-usage-of-the-synuclein-seed-amplification-assay-in-recent-parkinsons-study-at-2023-aan-annual-meeting-301804312.html?tc=eml_cleartime