Follow-up to my comment last year: I thought I would bring this up because if you are not following this company daily, you could miss it. As most of us know, the medical world is looking for a test that can verify Alzheimer’s and there are some companies that are very close. One company is working on developing a test for AD but not to verify the disease. Amorfix Life Sciences I believe is on the verge is of announcing that they have a scientifically verified test for human CSF that will locate markers that will accurately predict if a person will develop the deadly disease. This will be such a valuable tool for researchers who will now be able to concentrate on developing treatments to slow or even stop the disease in the very early stages. Many of us were pretty sure that the company was close to developing this test, given their successful development of the A4 Test, which was the first in the world that could pick up abeta amyloids in the brain tissue, the spinal fluid and the blood of laboratory mice. The confirmation that the company had developed a test for AD in humans, came in a recent article by the American Business Journal , where the CEO for the first time confirms they have a human CSF test.  I the past they were always working on developing one. The only thing holding it back from complete revelation is that the company wants to get the sensitivity of the test into the 90% range. If they can do this than they will basically have set a standard that no other company will be able to do, thus eliminating almost all the competition.
Here is a copy of the article from April 1 and I have highlighted the confirmation of the test that many have probably missed. 
The American Business Journal: Amorfix Life Sciences: 01 April, 2011
Mississauga, Ontario-based Amorfix Life Sciences has announced that is developing a new diagnostic test that is able to measure clumped protein fragments, called aggregated beta amyloid, in human cerebral spinal fluid which may indicate the presence of Alzheimer’s disease, making it easier to accurately diagnose.
“ The breakthrough was we measure levels of aggregated beta amyloid on the cerebral spinal fluid on patients who were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and compared those levels to levels from aged matched control subjects who did not have Alzheimer’s disease and found that there was a difference “ , says Dr. Robert Gundel, Amorfix President and CEO.
“ The importance of our work and its real significant is the measurement of the aggregated beta amyloid, which leads to plaque formation in the brain”  says Gundel.  “ The aggregated beta amyloid protein is what is toxic to the neurons, and the current theory is that it’s the build-up of the plaque that does damage on the neurons which then leads to the symptoms of Alzheimer. Our hope is to one day be able to use this test on patients showing early signs of dementia in order to predict which patients may progress rapidly into the disease and which may not.”

Amorfix’s current efforts are to optimize the assay conditions to improve the sensitivity and specificity to minimize false positives or negatives within the 90 % range. The first application of the test will be in the area of research, where it could be used to more effectively screen patients who participate in clinical trials.

Alzheimer’s Test- Closer Than We Think

Press Releases
May 4, 2010 - AMORFIX LIFE SCIENCES ANNOUNCES WORLD’S FIRST DETECTION OF AGGREGATED BETA-AMYLOID IN BLOOD USING THE ALZHEIMER’S DIAGNOSTIC A4 ASSAY..Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for misfolded protein diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), announced today the detection of the AD-associated aggregated Beta-amyloid (ABeta), the hallmark of AD, in the blood from the most-frequently-used animal model of AD. The assay detects both oligomeric and fibrillar aggregates of ABeta, which are generally considered to be the toxic forms and major contributors to brain dysfunction in AD.
July 6, 2010 – Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. (TSX:AMF) and reMYND NV today announced the signing of a partnership agreement to offer the Amorfix A4 amyloid testing service to reMYND’s contract research clients.
September 16, 2010 – Amorfix Life Sciences,is pleased to announce that data generated by its A4 test has been published in a peer-reviewed scientific publication. The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease has published the research article entitled: Pathological Hallmarks, Clinical Parallels, and Value for Drug Testing in Alzheimer’s Disease of the APP[V717I] London Transgenic Mouse Model. In this paper, among other findings, the authors confirm the validity of the Amorfix A4 assay in detecting aggregated Abeta, which is a neuropathological marker of the “APP London” (APP-Ld) mouse model offered for preclinical in vivo drug testing by reMYND NV.

October 07, 2010 – Amorfix Life Sciences announced today that it has accepted an invitation to become a member of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).
October 21, 2010 Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. (TSX:AMF) and Biotrofix, Inc. today announced that they have successfully detected the presence of the aggregated Beta-Amyloid (Abeta) peptide in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) from transgenic mice using the Amorfix A4 test.  Following collection and analysis of CSF, plasma and brains from 3 month old transgenic and normal mice, they successfully detected the presence of the aggregated Abeta peptide in the CSF from the transgenic mice which correlated with the signal detected in the brains and plasma.

October 22, 2010 Amorfix Life Sciences is listed as one of the private industry partners involved in the Phase 2 of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The study also will continue to follow participants recruited during two earlier phases. All new participants in ADNI2 will receive lumbar punctures to measure cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and will have blood drawn for plasma biomarkers.

Comments: The sequence of events is that the A4 test is the world’s first test that can detect Abeta in blood.  The company that supplies the lab mice to AD researchers at $400 each, knows this and enters into an agreement to offer the A4 kit to all its customers. The company has taken the next step and has proven that they can detect abeta amyloids in brain tissue, blood and CSF of lab animals. Next is to confirm that they can detect the amyloids in dogs, which is very important because dogs naturally develop a dementia that mirrors human Alzheimer’s.I believe that the company has been able to detect the amyloids in dogs through brain tissue, CSF and Blood. If the company can detect amyloids in dogs (which would be the world’s only successful test) then they can most likely can find it in human spinal fluid and the last step in human blood. I am of the opinion that they are very close or have already been able to develop the A4 to detect amyloids in human spinal fluid and possibly even blood.

The drugs aren’t that far off, really. I truly believe this because of the speed at which we are pinning down cause and effect in neurobiology due to the our advances in genetics. Lots of happier times can be had through ignorance, but I’d rather my thought process not be a fractured mess on my death bed.