NEW YORK — Proteomics firm Alamar Biosciences said Tuesday that it has entered a strategic collaboration with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's disease research.
Under the collaboration, the partners will use Alamar's NULISA proteomics platform to develop protein assays for identifying biomarkers linked to neuronal synuclein diseases including Parkinson's.
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Alamar, based in Fremont, California, and MJFF will work to expand the company's NULISAseq CNS Disease Panel 120 to include additional targets relevant to Parkinson's disease. They will also use the CNS panel and Alamar's NULISAseq Inflammation Panel 250 to analyze roughly 5,000 samples from MJFF's longitudinal study, the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI).
Alamar's NULISA (NUcleic acid-Linked Immuno-Sandwich Assay) technology is based on the proximity ligation assay. According to the company, NULISA improves upon the standard PLA method by using a two-stage wash and capture workflow that reduces assay background, thereby improving sensitivity.
"Core to our mission, MJFF is committed to advancing research that addresses the critical, unmet needs of patients," Nicole Polinski, director of research resources at MJFF, said in a statement. "MJFF's collaboration with Alamar Biosciences aims to not only deepen our understanding of Parkinson's pathology but to support the development of urgently needed diagnostic and therapeutic tools."
"The comprehensive analysis of the PPMI cohort using our NULISAseq technology provides a unique opportunity to uncover new insights into disease mechanisms and accelerate the development of targeted therapies," Alamar Chaiman and CEO Yuling Luo said in a statement.