COG joins Imperial College-led NHS Study
Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC
06 October 2026
06 October 2026
Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc
(“Cambridge Cognition” or the “Company”)
Cambridge Cognition joins Imperial College-led NHS study bringing earlier
Alzheimer’s diagnosis into primary care
BEAD-PC study will now evaluate combining CANTAB® digital cognitive assessments with blood-based biomarkers in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in primary care
Cambridge, UK — Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc (AIM: COG), the neuroscience technology company, announces its participation in BEAD-PC (Blood Biomarkers for Early and Accurate Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease in Primary Care), a major UK study led by Imperial College London. The study now includes CANTABÒ digital cognitive assessments alongside blood-based biomarkers.
Initiated in June 2026 and running for 15 months, BEAD-PC aims to recruit 500 participants across North West London with subjective memory complaints or symptoms of early cognitive decline. Participating GPs refer eligible patients to dedicated Primary Care Assessment Centres for digital cognitive assessment and blood sampling.
By combining objective cognitive assessment with biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease, the study aims to demonstrate how this approach can support earlier, more accurate diagnosis and be integrated into routine care at scale.
Building a pathway for earlier diagnosis
Timely and accurate diagnosis remains a major challenge in dementia care. Nearly one million people in the UK live with dementia, yet around one third of people with the condition in England remain undiagnosed, and people live with symptoms for an average of 3.5 years before receiving a diagnosis.¹
Confirming Alzheimer’s disease pathology has traditionally relied on specialist investigations such as PET imaging or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Advances in blood-based biomarkers are making this information more accessible, while digital cognitive assessment provides an objective measure of changes in memory and thinking to reflect meaningful aspects of health and functioning for the patient.
BEAD-PC will generate real-world evidence, in the NHS, as to how blood-based biomarkers, digital cognitive assessments and specialist services can be incorporated into future diagnostic pathways.
The study forms part of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) Healthcare System Preparedness Accurate Diagnosis programme, a global initiative examining how emerging Alzheimer’s diagnostic technologies can be integrated into real-world healthcare systems. Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, together with the North West London Primary Care Federations are conducting the programme’s activities in the UK, while other programmes are also being conducted in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan.
BEAD-PC is supported by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.
Rob Baker, CEO at Cambridge Cognition, said:
“While blood-based biomarkers give clinicians new ways to identify the biological signs of Alzheimer’s disease – digital cognitive assessments show changes to cognitive function that matter to patients, their families and their carers in everyday life.
BEAD-PC brings these complementary measures together in primary care, enabling earlier and more accurate diagnosis.This has the potential to shorten the route to appropriate treatment, support improved clinical decision-making, and enable healthcare systems respond more effectively.”
Professor Lefkos Middleton, Professor of Neurology at Imperial College London, said:
“New diagnostic tools will only make a meaningful difference if they can be integrated into a care pathway in a way that works for patients, clinicians and the wider health system. BEAD-PC is focused on the practical challenge of understanding how blood biomarkers and cognitive assessment can be implemented, at scale, and potentially transform the early diagnostic pathway of age-related cognitive disorders.
By evaluating this model in routine NHS primary care, we can build the real-world evidence needed to inform future diagnostic pathways, reduce unnecessary delays and help ensure that advances in Alzheimer’s detection translate into better access to the right care at the right time.”
References
¹ Alzheimer’s Society. Unlocking the Door to Diagnosis. 2026.
ENQUIRIES
|
CambridgeCognitionHoldingsplc RobBaker,ChiefExecutiveOfficer RonaldOpenshaw,ChiefFinancialOfficer |
Tel:01223810700 |
|
CavendishCapitalMarketsLimited(NOMADandJointBroker) GeoffNash/ElysiaBough/JoeSmith HarrietWard NigelBirks |
Tel:02072200500 CorporateFinance CorporateBroking LSSpecialistSales |
|
SingerCapitalMarketsLimited(JointBroker) AmberHiggs/DanielIngram |
Tel:02074963000
|
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Cambridge Cognition
Cambridge Cognition, the neuroscience technology company, is making brain health measurable at scale.
Its digital cognitive and voice-based assessments along with clinical trial technologies support scientific discovery, accelerate drug development and improve patient care. Built on more than 40 years of cognitive science, CANTABÒ provides sensitive, objective assessment of cognitive function and has been used extensively in clinical trials and academic research worldwide.
Cambridge Cognition provides technology and scientific expertise across clinical studies, academic research, healthcare and consumer health and wellness.
For further information, visit: www.cambridgecognition.com
About Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a world-leading university for science, technology, engineering, medicine and business (STEMB), where scientific imagination leads to world-changing impact.
We were founded in 1907 with a mission ‘To be useful’, but we know that before anyone can usefully change something, they first need to understand it. That’s what we do.
We use science to try to understand more of the universe and improve the lives of more people in it. Across our London campuses, and throughout our international network, we ask bigger questions and so we shape the future.www.imperial.ac.uk
About the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC)
The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) is a global partnership of organisations mobilising the world against Alzheimer’s disease. Advised by leaders in science, finance and healthcare, DAC works with international organisations, governments and the private sector to accelerate innovation and deliver solutions to patients around the globe.
DAC’s Healthcare System Preparedness programme (DAC-SP) aims to transform how healthcare systems worldwide detect, diagnose, treat and care for people with, or at risk of, Alzheimer’s disease, implementing and evaluating programmes that increase rates of cognitive screening, early detection and accurate diagnosis. www.davosalzheimerscollaborative.org
END
This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
ENDRNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.