The advancement in ultra-sensitive immunoassays and highly specific immunoprecipitation mass spectrometry (IPMS) methods, complimented by an increasing number of well-characterised research cohorts adhering to a biological definition of disease, have substantially contributed to the rapid development of reliability quantifying key targets in blood plasma or serum samples. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), measures of phosphorylated tau (p-tau), particularly p-tau217, have now shown great utility in identifying cerebral pathology at all stages of the disease continuum. Thus, it is anticipated that plasma p-tau217 will be an important component of patient management and treatments decisions related to AD. Yet, there remains a multitude of biomarker applications in AD, and related disorders, where plasma p-tau217 may not be fully sufficient. Therefore, a new period of proteomic biomarker discovery has begun, centered around p-tau, NfL, and GFAP, to address these needs.

This session will briefly overview the rapid development of blood biomarkers for AD, with a focus on phosphorylated tau. The talk will then highlight areas of need in biomarkers development, in the era of disease-modifying trials. We will conclude by looking at the capabilities of NULISA at the singleplex and multiplex level, and case-studies in how this novel technology may begin to address new biomarkers challenages that are emerging.