BILLERICA, Mass. — Quanterix Corporation said a newly published study in the journal Nature has provided the largest population-based assessment to date of Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes, offering new insights into disease prevalence and potential treatment eligibility across aging populations.
The study used Quanterix’s ultra-sensitive Simoa p-Tau 217 research assay to analyze samples from more than 11,000 individuals aged 58 and older in a Norwegian population-based cohort. Researchers found that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes rose sharply with age, increasing from 10 percent among individuals aged 58 to 69.9 years to 64.9 percent in those over 90.
According to Quanterix, the findings address a longstanding challenge in Alzheimer’s epidemiology by providing scalable, representative prevalence data derived from a general population rather than smaller clinic-based cohorts. The results suggest that Alzheimer’s dementia in older individuals may be more prevalent than previously estimated and allow for improved identification of asymptomatic individuals who could benefit from early intervention or participation in clinical trials.
“For decades, accurately mapping the true prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the general population was hindered because we lacked scalable, accurate blood-based tools,” said Nicholas Ashton, Ph.D., senior author of the study and senior director of the Fluid Biomarker Program at Banner Health. “This study, encompassing over 11,000 samples, fundamentally changes that landscape.”
Ashton said the plasma p-Tau 217 assay enabled researchers to generate more representative prevalence estimates than ever before and provided actionable data for public health planning. The study found that approximately 10 percent of individuals aged 70 and older meet current treatment eligibility criteria.
Among participants aged 70 and above, researchers determined that 30.4 percent exhibited Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes. Within that group, 11.4 percent had preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, 10.8 percent had prodromal disease, and 7.4 percent met criteria for Alzheimer’s dementia. The study also identified associations between disease pathology and factors including sex, APOE genotype, and education level.
To ensure robustness and generalizability, the researchers used a validated commercial p-Tau 217 assay on a fully automated analyzer platform.
“The sheer scale of this research underscores the indispensable role of highly sensitive biomarker detection in advancing public health understanding,” said Masoud Toloue, chief executive officer of Quanterix. “Our Simoa technology continues to enable population-level epidemiological insights that are critical for planning drug development, optimizing clinical trials, and preparing healthcare systems for the future of Alzheimer’s treatment.”
