By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) -Quest Diagnostics on Monday launched the primary direct-to-consumer blood take a look at to detect irregular ranges of beta amyloid, a key Alzheimer’s illness protein that may seem years earlier than dementia signs come up.

The $399 take a look at, referred to as AD-Detect, makes use of the identical know-how as a blood take a look at the corporate started promoting to be used by docs in early 2022.

“One of many benefits of getting an amyloid take a look at is that it lets you understand, doubtlessly years prematurely of even being symptomatic, that you’re in danger for Alzheimer’s,” mentioned Dr. Michael Racke, Quest’s medical director of neurology.

The announcement follows U.S. regulatory approval earlier this month of Leqembi, a drug from Eisai and associate Biogen (NASDAQ:) that removes amyloid from the mind and has been proven to gradual the advance of Alzheimer’s in early-stage sufferers.

An analogous therapy from Eli Lilly (NYSE:) referred to as donanemab is below evaluation by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration.

Prior Alzheimer’s remedies have handled signs however didn’t deal with the underlying illness.

Quest’s shopper take a look at is aimed toward adults aged 18 and older who could have delicate reminiscence loss or a household historical past of Alzheimer’s and need to perceive their very own threat for the illness, Racke mentioned.

Customers should first pay for the take a look at on Quest’s web site. A telemedicine physician will evaluation the acquisition to make sure it’s medically needed and place an order on their behalf. Sufferers can evaluation their outcomes on-line and have the choice to talk to a doctor at no further price.

If the take a look at is optimistic, people routinely can be contacted by a physician from an unbiased doctor community to debate the following steps and doubtlessly can share the outcomes with different physicians, the corporate mentioned.

Dr. Sarah Kremen, a neurologist at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, was involved that individuals who take a look at optimistic however don’t have any signs will are available looking for additional testing, presumably in hopes of accessing new remedies. However they won’t qualify for extra testing if they don’t seem to be symptomatic.

Racke mentioned such people should profit from life-style interventions, similar to weight-reduction plan and train, to cut back their threat or delay the onset of signs. They might additionally qualify for Alzheimer’s trials finding out remedies in at-risk people who’re nonetheless cognitively regular.

Quest’s lab-developed take a look at, created and carried out in a single laboratory, has not undergone any FDA evaluation. The company typically doesn’t evaluation such exams so long as they’re prescribed by a healthcare supplier.