Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and chairman of Gates Ventures. /Courtesy of AFP Yonhap News

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease affect over 57 million people worldwide. The number of patients is expected to double every 20 years, leading to a serious public health crisis globally. Despite advances in science and medicine extending lifespans, there still are no adequate methods for early diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and chairman of Gates Venture, declared on the 16th that "the day when an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is no longer a death sentence is closer than ever." Bill Gates actively supported the development of diagnostic and treatment technologies after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The Global Neurodegenerative Proteomics Consortium (GNPC) announced on this day that it has found clues for the early diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases in international academic journals 'Nature Medicine' and 'Nature Aging'. The GNPC is an international research organization co-founded by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the Gates Foundation in 2023.

GNPC analyzed 35,000 samples of biological fluids (plasma, cerebrospinal fluid) provided by 23 research institutions worldwide. As a result, it secured more than 250 million protein data points. The GNPC research team identified proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease) based on this data. The research team published all findings in four papers.

Dr. Caitlin Finney of the Westmead Medical Research Institute at the University of Sydney in Australia discovered a unique type of cerebrospinal fluid and plasma proteins found in carriers of the high-risk genotype for Alzheimer’s disease, APOE4. The research team stated that by training artificial intelligence (AI) with the analysis results of 1,346 cerebrospinal fluid samples and 9,924 plasma samples provided by GNPC, they could predict the presence of the high-risk APOE4 gene with 99% accuracy.

The research team reported that APOE4 carriers tended to show an excessive immune response consistently, regardless of the type of disease. However, they also confirmed that lifestyle habits such as hypertension or smoking impact the actual onset, indicating that it is not determined solely by genetics.

Professor Carlos Cruchaga of Washington University in St. Louis and his research team found unique plasma biomarkers and protein characteristics in patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. Additionally, they presented research results showing how changes in protein concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma are related to cognitive health.

The research team expected that the GNPC data would be a significant turning point in conquering neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Caitlin Finney noted, "GNPC enabled large-scale, cross-disease analyses of genetic risk factors like APOE epsilon (ε)4, and the GNPC data is an asset that will profoundly advance precision medicine in the field of neurodegenerative diseases."

Professor Cruchaga also stated, "Until now, proteomics research has mostly focused on single diseases and used small-scale data. To elucidate the biological processes related to neurodegenerative diseases, it is essential to analyze large-scale data covering various diseases and disease stages, and in this regard, GNPC plays a crucial role."

A positron emission tomography (PET) brain scan conducted for Alzheimer's disease testing at the Brigham and Women's Hospital Alzheimer's Research and Treatment Center. /Courtesy of Reuters

In particular, this research result received further significance as it emerged in the first year of GNPC's full-scale operation. Chairman Gates, who is leading and actively supporting the establishment of GNPC, wrote a column in Nature Medicine to convey the importance of GNPC.

He referred to his father, who passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2020, stating, "Alzheimer’s is a disease that places an emotional and economic burden on both families and public health. In countries like the United States, Alzheimer’s has already become a serious crisis, and if we do not find ways to slow or halt the disease, it will lead to a global health crisis."

Chairman Gates stated that international research collaboration is conquering diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. He noted, "Significant breakthroughs, including approvals for blood-based diagnostic tests and antibody therapies, are finally emerging."

However, he warned that budget cuts by the Trump administration could hinder related research. Chairman Gates stated, "Many clinical samples included in the GNPC database were collected through government-funded projects, and recent budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies pose a threat to these essential data. Now is the time to invest more in research and promote cross-border collaboration."

References

Nature Medicine (2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03834-0

Nature Medicine (2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03831-3

Nature Medicine (2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03835-z

Nature Medicine (2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03833-1

Nature Aging (2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-00920-3