December 202019diagnosed each year in the US, but only 65 percent are caused by AD, the rest are demented due to other causes. He further mentions, "The lack of highly accurate diagnostic tests for AD also leads to subsequent mishandling of the dementia population especially those who are not suffering from AD, but potentially other very treatable disorders such as Lyme's Disease, B-12 deficiency, hypothyroidism, depression, and others." With its unique biomarker technology that has shown high accuracy in autopsy-validated clinical trials, NDx can help the healthcare community unequivocally detect both AD and non-AD dementias, thereby minimizing the billions of wasted healthcare dollars spent each year looking for an accurate diagnosis.Powering through the PandemicMore recently, as the world comes to grips with handling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, NDx has recognized the challenges doctors face in the delivery of care for their patients. And in doing so, the company has developed services to allow healthcare professionals to safely collect patient samples from the comfort of their homes and consult with their physicians over digital media. From an organizational standpoint, NDx achieved a recent significant milestone when it received product specific codes from the American Medical Association for the DISCERN test. With these HCPCS codes under its belt, NDx was also awarded gap-fill status by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which has set the company on a path to potentially have its test become the first AD diagnostic that is covered by the Medicare insurance. "The pandemic may have created issues for the way doctors provide procedures, but we have taken the steps to support them through these turbulent times. On the other hand, the HCPCS codes and CMS recognition have put us on track to become the go-to AD diagnostic tool for doctors across the U.S.," extols Amato.Enabling Quick Neurodegenerative Disorder Diagnosis Presently, the U.S. has nearly six million AD patients, which is a number that could triple in the coming decades. At the same time, each year, the U.S. diagnoses 530,000 dementia patients that may not be treated effectively due to the lack of definitive diagnostic tools. With NDx's DISCERN test, Amato wants to transform AD diagnosis and significantly reduce the potential for misdiagnosis by helping to equip clinicians with the tools they need, getting patients the answers they need, and greatly reducing the exorbitant expenditure of healthcare resources. Moving forward, NeuroDiagnostics aims to scale up its operations to markets beyond the U.S. and move to the global stage. From a portfolio standpoint, the company plans to conduct additional R&D with its biomarker technology for the potential diagnosis of other neurodegenerative conditions. At the same time, the company is also developing a blood-based diagnostic as they move into 2021. To conclude, Amato reiterates the core mission behind NeuroDiagnostics, "We are poised to help transform the way clinicians and drug developers approach the management and treatment of AD, and we are continually working with the medical community to bring DISCERN to all the physicians and patients who need it." Through more than a decade of research we have developed a simple test (DISCERN) which requires a minimally-invasive skin-punch biopsy procedure, analyzed in our CLIA-certified laboratory to give doctors and patients a highly accurate diagnosis of AD
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