Probiodrug AG together with the VU University Medical Center Alzheimer Center in Amsterdam, have entered into a collaboration to assess several newly developed molecular biomarker assays for their diagnostic, pharmacodynamic, and therapeutic potential. In this collaboration, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from well-characterized Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients at different stages of disease will be analyzed in comparison with CSF from age-matched control samples. The assays are designed to detect the presence and concentration of pyroglutamated amyloid beta (pGlu Abeta), a highly toxic peptide produced by the enzyme glutamaminyl cyclase (QC).

PGlu Abeta has been correlated with cognitive decline in individuals with AD, and this collaboration seeks to correlate CSF concentrations of pGlu Abeta with AD disease stage.