GE HealthCare Participates in Project to Pioneer AI-Screening Platform for Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease

• GE HealthCare assumes the leading industrial role of PREDICTOM, a consortium project that aims to develop an AI-screening platform to identify individuals at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
• The €21 million project includes 30 partners from academia, business, civil society, and hospitals and is part of the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), a public-private partnership between the European Union and the European life science industries.

Chicago – November 22, 2023 – PREDICTOM is a consortium project that aims to develop an AI-screening platform to identify individuals at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The €21 million project gathers 30 partners from academia, business, civil society, and hospitals across 15 countries, and is led by Stavanger University Hospital, Norway. GE HealthCare assumes the leading industrial role in this consortium.

In 2023, more than seven million people are living with dementia in the European Union¹. This number is projected to double, reaching 14 million in 2050. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia and accounts for 60-80% of cases. The condition affects memory, thinking and behavior, and symptoms typically start with mild cognitive impairment and eventually grow severe enough to interfere with daily tasks².

Historically, medications and therapies have had limited effects and have been treating the symptoms of this disease versus addressing the cause. Although the search for potential treatments is showing promise, it is anticipated that these medications will be most effective in the early stages of the disease.

The PREDICTOM project aims to develop a digital platform that will aggregate participant data in different screening stages, including imaging, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, electrophysiological, and digital biomarkers. The platform will then use AI algorithms to analyze the data from all biomarkers and generate risk assessments, early diagnoses, and prognosis, which will lay the foundation for early detection and treatment. By improving the ease of identification of those with early signs of dementia, the PREDICTOM project hopes to have a significant impact on the personal and economic burden of dementia in Europe and across the world.

GE HealthCare’s digital teams in Budapest, Hungary will be developing the platform and AI algorithms, while the GE HealthCare Magnetic Resonance (MR) Research team based in Munich, Germany will work with the clinical partners to identify MR biomarkers that could be indicative of early stages of Alzheimer disease.

More than 4000 participants will partake in PREDICTOM’s trial project. The samples will be based on a pool of people from previous projects by PROTECT UK, PROTECT Norway and Radar-AD, as well as people from the catchment area of other participating centers in Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Spain.

“Detecting early signs of dementia is key to slowing its progression. Unfortunately, a majority of those at risk are not identified in time. Our platform seeks to change this by enabling early discovery, allowing timely intervention and preventative treatment”, says Dag Aarsland, Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at King's College London and research lead at Stavanger University Hospital, who leads the project.

“We are honored and thrilled to assume the leading industrial role in this vital undertaking, offering hope to those who might face an Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and providing innovative solutions along the patient's journey,” says Timo Schirmer, Director, GE HealthCare MR Applied Science Lab Europe. “Innovation thrives at the intersection of multiple disciplines, where the fusion of ideas and expertise sparks new and groundbreaking solutions,” he adds.

The project is part of the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), a public-private partnership between the European Union and the European life science industries. The project began on 1 November 2023 and runs through 31 October 2027.

As part of its strategy, GE HealthCare is committed to building a comprehensive eco system across the cardiology, oncology, and neurology care pathways, and personalize the patient journey.  The company’s overall Alzheimer’s care pathway approach aims to support the entire care area across diagnosis, therapy planning and delivery, and monitoring with its comprehensive suite of products and solutions. GE HealthCare is uniquely positioned and prepared to help support patients and clinicians today and will continue to invest in new solutions to meet the needs of global healthcare providers and patients in the future.

This project has received funding from the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking, under Grant Agreement nº 101132356. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, COCIR, EFPIA, EuropeaBio, MedTechEurope and Vaccines Europe.

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