New Plasma Tau Assay Improves Prediction of Alzheimer’s Progression

Predicting which patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease will progress more quickly is a key challenge for research and patient care. There is growing interest in examining tau biology and in the role of blood-based biomarkers in therapeutic development and clinical research. Plasma assays that capture tau-related signals may help address this need. New research now links baseline biomarker levels to measures of subsequent cognitive and functional decline in a Phase 3 program, offering complementary information when paired with another tau marker.

C2N Diagnostics (St. Louis, MO, USA) highlighted the first use of its eMTBR-tau243 plasma assay within the Evoke/Evoke+ Phase 3 dataset, presented at the AD/PD 2026 Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases Conference during the Evoke/Evoke+ Trial Symposium. The analysis incorporated eMTBR-tau243, a Research Use Only biomarker commercialized and measured by C2N, among participants enrolled in the trials. The symposium focused on Evoke and Evoke+ cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma biomarker analyses as well as exploratory subgroup analyses.

Image: Plasma assays that capture tau-related signals may help predict faster progression in patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

The eMTBR-tau243 assay was evaluated alongside plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) to understand relationships with clinical outcomes. According to the Evoke/Evoke+ Phase 3 evaluation, baseline levels of p-tau217 and eMTBR-tau243 each showed independent associations with longitudinal measures of cognitive and functional decline in patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. When assessed together, the two biomarkers provided complementary information.

C2N continues to advance multiple tau-related research tools, including early elements of its PrecivityTauDx program development, to bring together scientific insights in both research and clinical settings in Alzheimer’s disease. The company also emphasized its focus on scientific collaborations. It aims to provide robust, analytically sound biomarker support to partners across academia, biopharma, and translational research programs.

“The inclusion of eMTBR-tau243 in Evoke/Evoke+ analyses reflects the growing interest in looking at tau biology in ways that may better predict which patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease will progress more quickly than others. This information may be instrumental for future precision medicine strategies in novel treatment development and patient care,” said Dr. Joel Braunstein, CEO and President of C2N Diagnostics.

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