Sunbird Bio, a biotechnology company developing proprietary blood-based technologies to improve diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders and early-stage cancer, announced new data demonstrating that the company’s blood-biomarker alpha synuclein (α-synuclein) signatures accurately detect the aggregation of α-synuclein in the brain from a simple blood draw. Results from the study, which will be shared in a poster presentation (#116) on October 31 at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) international conference, demonstrate that Sunbird’s technology could provide blood-based diagnosis of multiple neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, with high accuracy.

With the help of proteomic profiling and machine learning, an international team led by investigators in the UK and Germany has identified a handful of blood plasma proteins associated with subsequent Parkinson's disease development, pointing to the possibility of developing blood-based biomarkers for the progressive neurodegenerative condition.

Two recent Parkinson’s announcements suggest a new biomarker test panel coming, as well as cell culture systems for studying Parkinson’s in the laboratory.