Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show · Ira Pastor

The Blood Test That Could Detect Alzheimer’s Years Before Symptoms | Mike Banville - CEO, ALZpath

April 9, 2026·35 min·2 clips

Mike Banville's company ALZpath is developing a blood test that can detect Alzheimer's up to 15 years before symptoms appear.

The problem begins before symptoms show up. The host frames the company as trying to change how Alzheimer's disease is detected and monitored with blood-based diagnostics. Mike Banville brings a practical scaling view. His background includes software and data businesses, and that shows as the conversation moves from the science to how the test actually reaches patients. The goal is early, accurate, accessible testing. Banville treats access as part of the design, not something to bolt on later. The company looked at building its own infrastructure, then chose a different route: work with large in vitro diagnostic platform companies already present in hospitals, clinics, and labs around the world. That decision shapes the model. The host points to Siemens Healthineers, Roche, and Beckman as signs that the company is thinking seriously about clinical reach. The lack of new hardware matters. Banville says existing installed machines may offer a faster path to access than a separate lab buildout. The antibody is the technical core. Partners can use that technology to develop a P-tau-217 assay on their own diagnostic platforms, including the Siemens Healthineers system the host mentions. The business structure follows from that. Banville describes a licensing model that lets established diagnostic companies bring the test into their networks. The episode keeps circling back to scale. Detection is treated less like one big breakthrough and more like the hard work of getting reliable tests into the places where patients already receive care. The tone stays measured and clear. By the end, the host places the company's work within a wider push to change Alzheimer's detection and monitoring for patients.

As heard by us

A grounded look at how blood tests could make Alzheimer's detection and monitoring faster and more practical.

The conversation follows Mike Banville and the company he leads as they push Alzheimer's detection and monitoring toward earlier, more accurate, and more accessible blood based diagnostics.

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Why you'd press play

Why this Alzheimer's blood test matters beyond the lab.

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