Bill Gates Backs $30 Million Push for Early Alzheimer's Diagnostics

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Estée Lauder's Leonard Lauder have announced they will award $30 million over three years to encourage development of new tests for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, according to Reuters . This follows an earlier announcement from Gates that he would personally donate $50 million to the Dementia Discovery Fund, a venture capital fund designed to foster industry and government collaboration on treatments for Alzheimer's. Gates and Lauder supplied seed money for the Diagnostics Accelerator program via the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). Funding provided through the program will be available to scientists and clinicians around the world who are working in academia, charities, and biotechnology firms. The ADDF Diagnostics Accelerator venture will make investments in riskier initiatives that may not yield immediate commercial returns. Gates said he envisions a future where Alzheimer's diagnosis would be "as simple as getting your blood tested during your annual physical."