C2N Diagnostics, Cambridge Cognition, and The Alzheimer’s Trust are joining forces to improve Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis across the United Kingdom. The partnership combines blood testing, digital cognitive assessment, phlebotomy, and MRI infrastructure.
C2N Diagnostics, LLC (“C2N”), a pioneer in advanced diagnostic testing for brain health, and Cambridge Cognition, the neuroscience technology company, announced the partnership on World Alzheimer’s Day. The companies are working with The Alzheimer’s Trust, a newly formed subsidiary of The Cancer Screening Trust. Together, the organizations aim to address the growing burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias across the UK.
Integrated Pathway for Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis
The collaboration creates a scalable pathway for earlier and more accurate Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. It combines three major diagnostic and care resources. First, C2N provides its UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency-registered PrecivityAD2® test. The test helps health care professionals identify amyloid pathology linked with Alzheimer’s disease.
Second, Cambridge Cognition provides CANTAB Pathway™. The platform offers validated digital touchscreen cognitive assessments for clinical settings. Third, The Alzheimer’s Trust provides national phlebotomy and MRI imaging infrastructure. UK-based health care professionals can now order PrecivityAD2® and CANTAB Pathway™ through The Alzheimer’s Trust. The combined pathway supports people experiencing cognitive impairment.
It also supports assessments for Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of cognitive decline. Health care professionals can contact hello@thealzheimerstrust.co.uk or call UK +44 (0)1935 712430 for ordering information.
PrecivityAD2® and CANTAB Pathway™ Support Diagnostic Accuracy
The PrecivityAD2® test uses high-resolution mass spectrometry technology. It measures amyloid beta protein isoforms Aβ42 and Aβ40. The test calculates the Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio. It also measures the percentage of tau protein phosphorylated at amino acid 217. The measurement is known as %p-tau217. Both biomarkers enter a proprietary statistical algorithm. The algorithm calculates the Amyloid Probability Score 2, or APS2. This score indicates the likelihood of amyloid plaques in the brain.
Amyloid plaques represent a hallmark associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Meanwhile, CANTAB Pathway™ provides digital cognitive assessments within clinical environments. The platform uses escalating task levels to examine different aspects of cognition. Data1 showed a connection between CANTAB Pathway™ performance and a blood biomarker associated with brain amyloid pathology. Other analyses2 also produced relevant findings. CANTAB Pathway™ differentiated cognitive impairment according to baseline biomarker status.
The platform also tracked cognitive changes over two years. This finding applied to patients above upper blood biomarker thresholds. These findings suggest that digital cognitive assessments and blood biomarker testing can provide complementary information. According to company executives, combining both approaches can provide a broader diagnostic picture. A study3 published in Nature Medicine examined a similar combined approach. Researchers assessed a self-administered digital cognitive test alongside C2N’s PrecivityAD2® algorithm.
The study involved 19 general practitioner clinics across Sweden. Results showed 90% accuracy in detecting clinical, biomarker-verified Alzheimer’s disease. Standard-of-care GP accuracy reached 70% in the same study. Therefore, the combined approach demonstrated higher diagnostic accuracy in that research setting. Health care professionals also highlight the clinical importance of early and accurate diagnosis. Studies4,5,6 found that lifestyle interventions improved memory, thinking, and overall cognitive function. The studies focused on older adults facing dementia risk.
UK Dementia Diagnosis Faces Growing Pressure
Dementia remains the United Kingdom’s leading cause of death7. The condition claims more than 76,000 lives annually. An estimated 982,000 people across the UK currently live with dementia. The number could exceed one million as the population continues to age8. Despite this growing burden, the dementia diagnostic pathway faces significant pressure. Officials identify diagnosis as an important challenge within the National Health Service. Delays can also create potential clinical consequences for patients.
Recent Alzheimer’s Society findings highlighted the length of the current pathway. People in the UK wait an average of 3.5 years between their first symptoms and diagnosis. Almost six months can pass after a GP referral to a memory clinic. Nearly 75% of GPs also acknowledge long waits for diagnosis9. These delays can have important clinical implications. MHRA-approved amyloid-targeting treatments appear most effective during earlier disease stages10,11. Therefore, improving the Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis pathway could help healthcare professionals identify eligible patients sooner.
C2N Reaches Key Regulatory Milestones
C2N achieved an important UK regulatory milestone in 2025. The company received medical device registration from the UK’s MHRA for PrecivityAD2®. The registration marked the test’s first regulatory approval as an in vitro diagnostic anywhere worldwide. More recently, PrecivityAD2® received FDA clearance in the United States. The clearance supports its use as an aid in Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. C2N also points to findings from a major prospective study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)12.
The study enrolled more than 1,200 patients. Participants came from both primary care and specialty care settings. The PrecivityAD2® clinically validated algorithm produced a 92% Negative Predictive Value. It also achieved a 91% Positive Predictive Value. The results used a predefined single cutoff. A two-cutoff approach produced 95% NPV and PPV, respectively. The reported performance exceeded expert consensus recommendations13. Those recommendations address blood biomarkers as alternatives to CSF testing or PET imaging.
Dr. Joel Braunstein, CEO, C2N Diagnostics, says, “C2N is excited to play an important role in this partnership by helping to address the dementia diagnosis crisis in the UK and believes this collaboration could be a model in other parts of the world. We especially appreciate and admire what The Cancer Screening Trust has accomplished in the field of oncology and look forward to similar success with Alzheimer’s disease. We have found Cambridge Cognition to be a highly collaborative and trusted partner in helping to educate stakeholders about novel diagnostic tools available to physicians and patients in the field of Alzheimer’s disease.
“We believe that adding PrecivityAD2® into an integrated diagnostic pathway through The Alzheimer’s Trust creates a unique opportunity for a broad, long-term solution throughout the UK.”
CANTAB Pathway™ Adds Digital Cognitive Assessment
CANTAB Pathway™ provides digital cognitive assessment within clinical settings. The platform features three escalating assessment tiers. CANTAB One offers rapid cognitive screening. It helps identify whether a cognitive problem may exist. CANTAB Insight™ provides deeper, multi-domain cognitive profiling. Physicians can use the results within their diagnostic pathways. CANTAB Plus targets specialists who assess specific diseases. These include mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias.
The platform provides detailed cognitive sub-domain profiling. This information can help specialists assess whether disease may be present. It can also help determine the possible form of cognitive impairment.
CANTAB Pathway™ already operates across several commercial settings. Cambridge Cognition has also reached an agreement with a major European private healthcare group. The company also maintains a research collaboration with ŌURA, “the world’s leading smart ring.” These deployments demonstrate the potential scalability of CANTAB Pathway™. They also support Cambridge Cognition’s expansion across healthcare and consumer wellness markets. Cambridge Cognition’s digital touchscreen and voice-based assessments have support from more than 3,700 peer-reviewed publications.
The company says multiple studies demonstrate sensitivity to early signs of mild cognitive impairment. These assessments can operate both in clinical environments and at home. A scoping review published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia14 examined 79 self-administered digital cognitive assessments. Researchers evaluated the tools for clinical use in Alzheimer’s disease. The review included assessments from multiple providers. The study identified CANTAB® among only three tools that fully met predefined framework criteria. The criteria focused on real-world deployment.
Partners Target Long-Term Dementia Care
Rob Baker, CEO, Cambridge Cognition, says, “The dementia diagnostic challenge in the UK demands bold, collaborative action. By uniting C2N’s pioneering blood biomarker technology, Cambridge Cognition’s clinically validated digital assessments and The Alzheimer’s Trust’s commitment to patient-centred care, this partnership offers a new model for how the healthcare system can meet the scale of the crisis.”
Dan Hogarty, Director, The Alzheimer’s Trust, says, “This collaboration with C2N and Cambridge Cognition enables us to offer the best tests available to those in need and to address the issue with sensitivity and integrity. All three parties are in this sector for the long term and are equipped to handle the enormous challenges.”
Frank Hogarty, CEO, The Alzheimer’s Trust and The Cancer Screening Trust, says, “The Alzheimer’s Trust can support physician or patient referrals from the whole of the UK, and through our in-house clinical team, either via video or phone calls, support patients through their diagnosis and care pathways according to test results. This personalized, patient-centric approach is a best practice that we have optimized through The Cancer Screening Trust over the last five years.”
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News Source: Businesswire.com
