Japan's Eisai to invest in U.S. Alzheimer's blood testing firm C2N

Expanded use of tests could boost drugmaker's lecanemab medication

Eisai's Alzheimer's drug lecanemab was approved by U.S. and Japanese health officials last year. (Photo by Yuki Nakao)

TAITO KUROSE, Nikkei staff writer

March 7, 2024 00:25 JST

TOKYO -- Japanese drugmaker Eisai said Wednesday it will invest up to $15 million in C2N Diagnostics, a U.S. biotechnology firm that has developed a blood test for early signs of Alzheimer's disease.

C2N's diagnostic assay can detect amyloid beta -- a type of protein fragment that form plaques in the brain linked to Alzheimer's -- in a small quantity of blood.