Every 66 seconds, a person in the US develops Alzheimer’s disease. More than 5 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s and the disease is the 6th leading cause of death in this country. Nearly half of those who are caregivers to someone with Alzheimer’s and/or contribute financially to their care, cut back on their own personal expenses to pay for the dementia-related care of a family member or friend. In 2015, 15.9 million caregivers provided an estimated 18.1 billion hours of unpaid care valued at more than $221 billion.While there is no cure or prevention for Alzheimer’s, some treatments may help with the symptoms of this disease. But NeuroQuest has been working towards developing a screening tool for the at-risk population. Founded in 2008 in Misgav, Israel, NeuroQuest’s mission is to develop a simple blood test for the general population, ages 60 and older that is accurate and affordable and able to possibly replace PET scans.
With US headquarters in Charleston, SC, the science and intellectual property behind NeuroQuest comes from the Weizman Institute’s Technology Transfer Arm and from the acclaimed work of Prof. Michal Schwartz, Chair of Neuroimmunology at the Weizman Institute.
While testing for Alzheimer’s disease widely available and in use today, the tests do not allow for much time – the majority of patients tested are already suffering from the disease. But NeuroQuest’s science is hoping to be able to give patients and their families’ time to fight the disease and plan for the future.
