Spear Bio to unveil novel Alzheimer’s disease immunoassays and fully automated instrument platform at AAIC 2026

Spear Bio, an innovator in ultrasensitive protein biomarker detection, today announced plans to unveil new SPEAR immunoassay and instrument innovations at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference^® 2026, taking place July 12–15 in London, UK.

The launches include the first commercially available singleplex immunoassay for eMTBR-Tau, a novel epTau 217 assay for measuring pTau 217 across venous and capillary blood, and an instrument platform to fully automate SPEAR workflows. Together, these innovations expand Spear Bio’s Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative biomarker portfolio, giving scientists new tools to investigate both amyloid-associated tau phosphorylation and tau tangle pathology from ultra-low sample volumes.

Designed as a standalone singleplex assay, the SPEAR eMTBR-Tau immunoassay provides researchers a focused and quantitative approach to measuring tau tangle-associated biology while maintaining the ultra-low sample volume and simplified workflow advantages of SPEAR technology. SPEAR epTau 217 complements this approach by enabling consistent pTau 217 measurement across venous and capillary blood, supporting broader investigation of amyloid-associated tau phosphorylation in Alzheimer’s disease research.

Both assays are built on Spear Bio’s proprietary Successive Proximity Extension Amplification Reaction technology, which combines attomolar sensitivity with a homogeneous, wash-free workflow. Requiring just 1 µL of diluted plasma, SPEAR immunoassays help researchers preserve precious biospecimens while generating high-quality biomarker data across Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegeneration, and preclinical research.

The new instrument platform is designed to fully automate SPEAR workflows from sample to qPCR-ready plate, reducing manual handling and supporting more consistent execution of ultrasensitive biomarker assays. The system represents an important step in making SPEAR technology easier to adopt, scale, and integrate into research and clinical development laboratory workflows.

Our focus is on building innovations that help researchers answer questions that were previously difficult to address with conventional protein biomarker tools, As the field advances from biomarker discovery toward broader validation, vigorously verified assays become essential to generating reliable, reproducible insights. By bringing together novel biomarker content, enabled by SPEAR’s ultra-sensitivity and performance required for biomarker validation, we are providing researchers with a platform to measure complex Alzheimer’s disease biology and support the next stage of neurodegenerative disease research.”

Feng Xuan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Spear Bio 

Spear Bio at AAIC 2026

Spear Bio will exhibit at booth 322 and present new data across Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegeneration, synucleinopathy, and TDP-43 proteinopathy.

Product theater presentation

• Introducing SPEAR epTau 217 and eMTBR-Tau: Dissecting Alzheimer’s Pathologies from Early Tau Phosphorylation to Tau Tangle
  Presenters: Dr. Nicholas Ashton, Senior Director, Fluid Biomarker Program, Banner Health and Dr. Tracy Liu Director, Product Management, Spear Bio
  Wednesday, July 15, 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Poster presentations

• SPEAR UltraDetect^™ BD-pTau 217 Assay for Reliable Amyloid Pathology Discrimination
  Sunday, July 12, 7:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
• SPEAR UltraDetect^™ Mouse NF-L and pTau 217 Assays for Ultra-Sensitive Biomarker Studies in Mouse Models
  Monday, July 13, 7:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
• SPEAR UltraDetect^™ Assays for Ultra-Sensitive Detection of α-Syn and pS129-α-Syn in Biofluids and Extracellular Vesicles
  Tuesday, July 14, 7:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
• SPEAR UltraDetect^™ Assays Enable Robust Quantification of Total and Phosphorylated TDP-43 in Plasma
  Wednesday, July 15, 7:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.

Conference attendees can visit Spear Bio at booth 322 to discuss their research goals, review the latest assay data, and learn how SPEAR immunoassays can support neurodegenerative disease biomarker studies.