BIOMARKERS - PODIUM PRESENTATION - VeraBIND Tau test, a novel plasma assay for active tau pathology

Q: What is the VeraBIND Tau test designed to measure?

It is a plasma bead-based ELISA that assesses whether hyperphosphorylated tau in a sample binds to normal tau, testing whether tau is pathologically active.

Q: How were amyloid (A+) and tau (T+) statuses determined in the study?

A+ was defined using CSF Aβ42 thresholds or amyloid-PET centiloids. T+ was determined with F18 MK6240 tau-PET using visual readouts (Braak 0 vs Braak≥1).

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Jordan Avery

Plasma assays targeting tau phospho-epitopes are often observed alongside isolated amyloid-β pathology, while tau-aggregation linked tests remain an unmet need. VeraBIND Tau is presented as a plasma bead-based ELISA measuring binding of hyperphosphorylated tau from a patient sample to normal tau, aiming to determine whether tau is pathologically active. In 133 participants, tau-PET served as ground truth to evaluate A/T status discrimination.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

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Abstract

Background

Method

Results

Conclusion

DOI: 10. 1002/alz70856_105556 BIOMARKERS PODIUM PRESENTATION BIOMARKERS (NON-NEUROIMAGING) VeraBIND Tau test, a novel plasma assay for active tau pathology, identifies individuals with positive tau-PET signal, regardless of amyloid status Bernard J Hanseeuw1, 2, 3 Jean-Louis Bayart4, 5 Emilien Boyer3, 6 Pascal Kienlen-Campard7 Renaud Lhommel3, 8 Adrian Ivanoiu2, 3 Khairul Ansari9 Joshua Soldo9 Khalid Iqbal 10, 11 Lisa Quenon2, 3 1 Massachusetts General Hospital, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging and theAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, MA, USA 2 Department of Neurology, Saint-Luc University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium 3 Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium 4 Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Brussels, 1200, Belgium 5 Departement of Laboratory Medicine Cliniques Saint Pierre, Ottignies, Belgium 6 Grand Hôpital de Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium 7 Institute of Neuroscience-UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium 8Saint-Luc University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium 9Veravas, Inc, Oakdale, MN, USA 10 New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, NY, USA 11SUNY Downstate/NYSIBR Center for Developmental Neuroscience, Staten Island, NY, USA Correspondence Bernard J Hanseeuw, Massachusetts General Hospital, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging and theAthinoulaA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, MA, USA. [Email:](Email: bhanseeuw@mgh.harvard.edu)[ bhanseeuw@mgh.harvard.edu](Email: bhanseeuw@mgh.harvard.edu) Abstract Background: Plasma assays targeting tau phospho-epitopes (e.g., pTau217) are frequently observed in the context of isolated amyloid-β pathology (A+). Developing plasma assays associated with tau aggregation (T+) is an unmet challenge. Here, we present results of the VeraBIND Tau test, a plasma assay measuring how hyperphosphorylated tau (HPT) observed in a sample binds to normal tau, i.e., testing whether tau is pathologically active. Method: VeraBIND Tau is an in vitro bead-based ELISA that uses chemiluminescence (Figure 1: overview). One hundred thirty-three participants were recruited from an ongoing study at UCLouvain, Belgium, including 93 clinically normal (CN, 32A+) and 40 clinically impaired (MCI/AD, 36A+). A+ status was determined using either CSF (Aβ42 ≤544pg/mL) or amyloid-PET (Centiloid≥20). F18 MK6240 Tau-PET status was determined visually as negative (Braak 0) or positive (Braak≥1). Plasma pTau217 was quantified using Lumipulse (Fujirebio). Result: The VeraBIND Tau plasma assay was weakly correlated with pTau217 concentration (R2 =0.065, p = 0.02, Figure 2). Using tau-PET as ground truth for tau, VeraBIND Tau detected 52 of 56 A+T+ participants (sensitivity=93%), and excluded tauopathy in 54 of 57 A-T-participants (specificity=95%). With the same specificity (threshold=0. 193pg/mL), pTau217achieved similar sensitivity inA+T+ (51of56,91%). However, nine of twelve A+T- participants had positive pTau217 whereas only four had positive VeraBIND test. In contrast, six of eight A-T+ participants had negative pTau217, but positive VeraBIND test, including one FTLD and two probable PART cases. Except the FTLD case, the A-T+ participants had relatively low tau-PET signal (Braak 2-3) and the only A-Braak= 1 case was borderline (RLU=0. 974, normal< 1.0). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2025 The Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s Dement. 2025;21(Suppl. 2):e105556. [https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70856_105556](https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70856_105556) wi[leyonlinelibrary.com/journal/alz](leyonlinelibrary.com/journal/alz) 1of3 BIOMARKERS The overall diagnostic accuracy of pTau217was90%forA-/A+and82%forT-/T+

FAQs

What is the VeraBIND Tau test designed to measure?

It is a plasma bead-based ELISA that assesses whether hyperphosphorylated tau in a sample binds to normal tau, testing whether tau is pathologically active.

How were amyloid (A+) and tau (T+) statuses determined in the study?

A+ was defined using CSF Aβ42 thresholds or amyloid-PET centiloids. T+ was determined with F18 MK6240 tau-PET using visual readouts (Braak 0 vs Braak≥1).

How did VeraBIND Tau perform compared with pTau217 and tau-PET?

VeraBIND Tau detected 52 of 56 A+T+ participants (sensitivity 93%) and excluded tauopathy in 54 of 57 A-T-participants (specificity 95%). pTau217 showed similar sensitivity with a matched specificity threshold, but results often diverged between pTau217 and VeraBIND.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Jordan Avery