New $50 million commitment will advance blood tests for tau and other co-pathologies, multi-marker panels, and AI-driven biomarkers to accelerate drug development, enable combination therapies, and support prevention strategies

NEW YORK, March 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) today announced the launch of the third phase of its Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA), backed by an additional $50 million in funding, bringing the initiative’s total to $150 million. Building on its transformative impact in blood-based diagnostics, the DxA’s next phase will advance next-generation biomarkers designed to accelerate drug development, enable combination therapies, and usher in a new era of precision medicine for Alzheimer’s patients.

Launched in 2018 in partnership with initial funders ADDF Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder and Bill Gates, the Diagnostics Accelerator was founded on the belief that the path to effective Alzheimer’s treatments begins with better diagnostics. This third phase includes renewed commitments from the initial funders, as well as Biogen, the Dolby family, Eli Lilly and Company, and the Shanahan Family Foundation, along with new support from the JTMF Foundation and the Robertson Foundation.

“The DxA has played a pivotal role in advancing Alzheimer’s blood tests from early promise to clinical practice, transforming how people get diagnosed,” said Niranjan Bose, Managing Director, Health and Life Sciences at Gates Ventures. “To keep pace with a rapidly evolving therapeutic pipeline, we need next generation diagnostics that go beyond identifying amyloid pathology to addressing tau pathology, co-pathologies, and novel mechanisms of aging. Advances in digital tools and AI are also opening new frontiers. DxA 3.0 will accelerate research and development that will support earlier detection, faster clinical decision-making, and more personalized treatment strategies that will ultimately help give people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their families more time and better options.”

When the Diagnostics Accelerator was first created, scalable biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease were significantly underfunded and largely overlooked. The DxA filled that void, catalyzing investment and innovation across the field. Today, the landscape has fundamentally changed: multiple FDA-approved amyloid blood tests are now available to patients, and blood-based diagnostics are reshaping both clinical care and trial design. The DxA is now focused on the next critical gap – developing tools that capture the full pathology and biological complexity of Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

As the drug pipeline expands and diversifies, the need for more sophisticated and novel biomarkers has never been greater. The third phase of the DxA will move beyond single-analyte diagnostics to enable integrated multi-marker panels, AI, and the development of blood tests for tau and other co-pathologies of Alzheimer’s. These advances are essential to supporting therapies that address multiple disease drivers simultaneously and tailoring treatments to each patient’s unique biology.

“Changing the trajectory of Alzheimer’s disease will require earlier detection and intervention, and that progress depends on therapeutic and diagnostic innovation advancing together,” said Rachid Izzar, Executive Vice President, Global Product Strategy & Commercialization at Biogen and ADDF Board Member. “Biogen is proud to continue supporting the ADDF Diagnostics Accelerator through DxA 3.0, advancing the biomarkers and diagnostic tools needed for earlier, more precise detection and to help accelerate the development of new treatments for people living with Alzheimer’s disease.”

Since its founding, the DxA has invested $100 million across 76 programs worldwide, seeding the Alzheimer’s biomarker pipeline with blood tests and digital technologies. In 2025, DxA-funded Fujirebio received the first ever FDA approval for an Alzheimer’s blood test, marking a major milestone for patients and clinicians. The initiative also invested in C2N Diagnostics to scale its highly sensitive and accurate assay, as well as in Alamar Biosciences to advance the development of its ultra-sensitive NULISA platform, which enables detection of a broad range of blood-based biomarkers that could accelerate precision medicine approaches for Alzheimer’s disease. These blood tests offer the opportunity to replace more invasive and costly tools like PET scans and spinal taps, transforming the diagnostic journey for patients and streamlining clinical trial enrollment.

Beyond blood biomarkers, the DxA’s SpeechDx is building one of the largest longitudinal speech datasets in Alzheimer’s research to power AI-driven detection and prediction of cognitive decline. Programs like SpeechDx are helping lay the groundwork for more precise, real-time monitoring of cognitive health – an essential step toward individualized treatment strategies.

“At the ADDF, we have always known biomarkers would be the key to developing the drugs and prevention protocols necessary to stop Alzheimer’s in its tracks,” said Howard Fillit, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of the ADDF. “The Diagnostics Accelerator has revolutionized both research and patient care by bringing blood tests to patients. With this next phase, we are expanding our vision to develop a new generation of tools that will unlock combination therapies and precision medicine for Alzheimer’s, the same approach that has proven successful in cancer treatment.”

About The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the development of drugs to prevent, treat, and cure Alzheimer’s disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. The ADDF’s leadership and contributions to the field have played a pivotal role in bringing the first Alzheimer’s PET scan (Amyvid®) and blood test (PrecivityAD®) to market, as well as fueling the current robust and diverse drug pipeline. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded nearly $400 million to fund 792 Alzheimer’s drug development, biomarker, and prevention programs in 21 countries. To learn more, please visit:  http://www.alzdiscovery.org/.

About the Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA)
The Diagnostics Accelerator, launched in July 2018, is a $150 million global research initiative founded by ADDF Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus Leonard A. Lauder and Bill Gates to develop novel biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The DxA is dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible biomarkers to aid in diagnosis and advance the clinical development of more targeted treatments. Through translational research awards and access to consulting support from industry experts, this program will challenge, assist and fund the research community in both academia and industry to develop novel peripheral and digital biomarkers.

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SOURCE Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation