Parkinson’s disease currently lacks an approved blood-based diagnostic test. Credit: Orawan Pattarawimonchai via Shutterstock.

Sunbird Bio has unveiled new data demonstrating that its diagnostic technology classified Parkinson’s disease-positive blood samples with 86% accuracy through the direct detection of aggregated alpha synuclein proteins.

Data from the study was showcased at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference in Madrid, Spain, on 31 October. The study evaluated whether extracellular vesicle (EV)-bound alpha-synuclein proteins in the blood could serve as a reliable marker for detecting alpha-synuclein in the brain – a key indicator of Parkinson’s disease. Currently, Parkinson’s lacks an approved blood-based diagnostic test, despite research showing that brain-aggregation of a-synuclein is a hallmark of the disease.  

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In the study, researchers collected blood samples from 16 Parkinson’s patients and 24 age-matched healthy controls to test Sunbird’s assays. While a biomarker based on unbound soluble a-synuclein failed to classify Parkinson’s cases, the brain-derived EV-bound a-synuclein marker accurately identified Parkinson’s positive samples with an accuracy of 86%.

Sunbird Bio said that these findings not only support Parkinson’s detection but may also aid in identifying other neurological disorders that involve a-synuclein aggregation such as Alzheimer’s.

Sunbird Bio’s founder Huilin Shao said: “These data support the initiation of additional clinical trials incorporating more biomarkers and a broader array of blood samples to further evaluate our technology’s potential to accurately diagnose Parkinson’s disease and other synuclein-related neurological disorders.”

The Massachusetts and Singapore-based company raised $14m last month, supported by Eli Lilly and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDBI). The funds will be used to establish a new laboratory space and initiate additional clinical studies of its diagnostic technology by early 2025. The company has an active pipeline that includes blood-based tests for amyloid beta, tau, a-synuclein, TDP-43 and other biomarkers for neurological diseases.

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Sunbird merged with Glympse Bio in August 2023 to fast-track the development of its protein-based diagnostic technologies. 

In June 2024, researchers at University College London announced that they had developed a test that was 100% accurate in identifying Parkinson’s when comparing blood samples from 99 people with Parkinson’s and 36 people without the condition. The study used AI alongside the analysis of blood samples to develop and refine a test based on the levels of eight circulating proteins that they found to be early markers of Parkinson’s. Work is now ongoing to verify the test to see how it could be used as a tool in research and the clinic.