Rockville, MD – Meso Scale Discovery, a division of Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC. (MSD), today launched a new immunoassay validated for the detection of alpha-synuclein in human serum, plasma, cerebral spinal fluid, saliva, and whole blood. Development of this assay was supported by funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).

In Parkinson’s disease (PD), alpha-synuclein aggregates to form toxic soluble oligomers (i.e., protofibrils) and insoluble fibrils known as Lewy bodies (LBs). Alpha-synuclein pathologies are also prevalent in people with dementia with LBs and multiple system atrophy.

“This assay will be of great interest to the PD research community,” said Jacob Wohlstadter, president and chief executive officer of MSD. “A biomarker that can be detected during the pre-symptomatic or early active stages, and distinguish PD from other neurodegenerative conditions, could significantly impact the selection of patients for clinical trials and ultimately inform tr