NEW YORK: Affymetrix and Cytox have agreed to collaborate on developing and commercializing a blood-based genetic assay for research in diagnosis and prognosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
The value of the collaboration was not disclosed by Cytox, which announced the partnership today.
The collaboration is designed to combine Affymetrix’ technology, know-how, and marketing support with Cytox’ expertise in developing tests to identify individuals at risk of cognitive decline, AD, and other dementias.
Cytox said it has identified a novel panel of DNA sequence variations or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes influenced by rapamycin, linked to the mTOR signaling pathway. Cytox has data suggesting that an assessment of disease risk may be possible using a customized genetic variation SNP panel associated with mTOR signaling and other pathways, the company added.