Danaher's first Danaher Beacon research collaboration with Chinese scientists focuses on the development of innovative early diagnosis solutions for Alzheimer's disease. [Photo/Hongqiao Linkong]
Danaher Corp, a leading US innovator in life sciences which operates its China headquarters and a life science research institute in the Hongqiao International Central Business District, recently announced a major collaboration with Shanghai's Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University to develop innovative early diagnosis solutions for Alzheimer's disease (AD).
This is the first collaboration between Danaher Beacon, a health innovation program, and Chinese scientists. The program partners with leading academic institutions globally to advance scientific research and develop health-improving technologies.
Under the partnership, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, which belongs to Danaher, and Professor Yu Jintai from Huashan Hospital's Department of Neurology will utilize high-sensitivity diagnostic technology to explore new blood biomarker combinations linked to Alzheimer's clinical outcomes.
Their collaboration focuses on improving early and differential diagnosis accuracy, optimizing treatment plans, slowing disease progression, and enhancing patient quality of life. The technology they develop may also aid in diagnosing other neurodegenerative and neuroimmune diseases.
"Blood tests are minimally invasive and easy to administer, but finding disease biomarkers in blood is challenging," said Professor Yu. "Collaborating with Danaher, a global tech leader, we aim to achieve breakthroughs in early Alzheimer's identification and precise diagnosis, offering more clinical benefits to patients."
Alzheimer's, known as the "eraser of memories", leads to cognitive impairment. Recent monoclonal antibody drug approvals offer hope for disease-modifying therapies, which rely on accurate diagnosis. Blood biomarkers, easy to collect and suitable for large-scale screening, play a critical role in Alzheimer's clinical practice.
"Medical institutions are sources of technological breakthroughs," said Jason Peng, global vice-president and executive president of Danaher Corp's China unit. "We hope this collaboration accelerates neurodegenerative disease research and innovation, leading to more Danaher Beacon projects in the future."
