Press Release

Jul 24, 2016
Cytox launches interpretive software for breakthrough genetic biomarker research assay for Alzheimer’s risk assessment at AAIC

Combination will identify amyloid-positive subjects more efficiently and help reduce screening failure rates in clinical trials

Oxford, UK. Cytox Ltd, an innovative developer of assays for risk assessment and prediction of dementia, has announced the launch of its SNPfitR™ software today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, Toronto, Canada, for interpretive analysis of the recently launched breakthrough Axiom® Dementia Research Array for assessing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk.  Developed in partnership with Affymetrix, a part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, the Axiom Dementia Research Array comprises the Cytox variaTECT™ array, a comprehensive panel of AD informative SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), designed on an Affymetrix Axiom® Genotyping Array and processed on an Affymetrix GeneTitan® Multi-Channel Instrument. The SNPfitR software is dedicated primarily for the analysis of the Cytox variaTECT plate genotyping results to provide support to users in the pharmaceutical industry in reducing the screening failure rate in finding amyloid positive subjects for recruitment into clinical trials, offering potential for huge savings in cost and time, as well as researchers in related biobank and longitudinal study cohorts.  The array offers a simple research test requiring gDNA, e.g. from blood or clinical archived samples. Cytox SNPfitR is designed to run on Windows-based workstations alongside the Axiom® Analysis Suite.

“We have developed SNPfitR to be used primarily with the Axiom Dementia Research Array to enrich amyloid-positive cohorts and so reduce screening failure rates, and the high associated costs, in early symptomatic (Mild Cognitive Impairment – MCI) and pre-symptomatic subject groups,” commented Dr Richard Pither, CEO of Cytox. “Easy to administer, the assay is currently the most comprehensive research panel available for the detection of AD informative SNPs, providing an accuracy of greater than 80%, with high positive and negative predictive values for the amyloid status of test subjects. The unique combination of this comprehensive SNP research panel and interpretive software for analysis, utilising a successful Affymetrix platform, offers a breakthrough in clinical research, drug discovery and early stage clinical trials.”

Cytox and its academic research partners will be presenting data from clinical research validation studies at two sessions at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, AAIC 2016, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada. An oral presentation, ‘Polygenic Scoring for Risk Stratification of Future Cognitive Decline in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)’, will be given by Dr Maryam Shoai, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, at 2:45pm - 3:00pm as part of the session, Development of New Models and Analysis Methods: Markers and Prediction of Cognitive Decline, today Sunday July 24, 2:00pm - 3:30pm, Room: 105. Two poster presentations will be made as part of the session P4-07, Diagnosis and Prognosis: Biomarkers (non-neuroimaging), Wednesday July 27, 9:30am – 4:15pm, Hall D/E. Poster P4-126, ‘Evaluation of a Novel Array of SNP Markers in Amyloid-PET Stratified Samples from MCI and Cognitively Normal Individuals’, at 9:30am – 10:30am by Dr Maryam Shoai, UCL Institute of Neurology and P4-111,‘Alzheimer’s Disease Detection at the Preclinical Stage Using a Novel SNP Genotyping Array’, at 9:30am – 10:30am by Professor Harald Hampel, Sorbonne Universities, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris.  

Cytox will be showcasing the Axiom Dementia Research Array and SNPfitR software and polygenic risk score algorithm, together with Affymetrix, at AAIC 2016 in Toronto, on booth # 822.

More information about the event can be found on the AAIC Conference website www.alz.org/aaic. More information about the presentations can be found after the Conference in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, www.alz.org/aaic/abstracts/abstr-archives.asp.