Analytical Framework Combines AI-Powered Retinal Imaging with Proprietary Circular RNA Biomarkers to Unlock Scalable, Non-Invasive Pathway for Early-Stage Alzheimer's Identification
SAN DIEGO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Circular Genomics, the precision neurology leader pioneering circular RNA (circRNA)-based molecular diagnostics, today announced a strategic alliance with Vitazi.ai, an innovator in AI-powered retinal imaging and oculomics, to jointly develop a next-generation multimodal workflow for the early detection and risk stratification of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This collaboration establishes a first-in-class diagnostic architecture designed to address critical market gaps in early-stage patient identification while expanding the reach and strategic value of both companies' core technology platforms. Despite affecting millions of individuals globally, Alzheimer's disease is often diagnosed years after symptom onset, with a significant proportion of early-stage patients missed due to limitations in accuracy, accessibility, and cost of existing diagnostic approaches. This diagnostic gap represents both a profound clinical challenge and a substantial market opportunity for scalable, accessible solutions capable of identifying patients earlier in the disease continuum.
The collaboration will combine Vitazi.ai's non-invasive AI-driven retinal imaging analytics with Circular Genomics' proprietary circRNA biomarker data through shared algorithmic and machine learning workflows to deliver intelligent, accurate early AD detection and risk stratification. By uniting complementary data modalities into a unified clinical workflow, the collaboration is positioned to unlock one of the most significant unmet needs in Alzheimer's disease: the systematic underdiagnosis of patients in the earliest, most treatable stages—where therapeutic intervention holds the greatest potential for clinical and economic impact.
The envisioned diagnostic process introduces a two-step clinical workflow designed for scalability, accessibility, and seamless integration into existing care pathways:
Step 1: AI-Driven Retinal Triage — Non-invasive retinal imaging conducted in optometry or primary care settings to identify individuals at elevated risk, enabling broad population-level screening with minimal infrastructure requirements
Step 2: circRNA Molecular Confirmation — Blood-based detection of brain-derived circRNA biomarkers to confirm early disease biology and pathology, providing molecular precision and disease pathway-level insight beyond traditional protein biomarkers
Together, this multimodal analytical approach is engineered to enable earlier, more accurate patient identification, expand access to care across diverse healthcare settings, and support more effective deployment of emerging disease-modifying therapies—creating strategic value for healthcare systems, pharmaceutical partners, and payers.
"This collaboration represents a transformative step in how we scale early Alzheimer's detection and expand the commercial and strategic reach of our circRNA platform," said Paul Sargeant, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Circular Genomics. "Our circRNA technology provides a systems-level view of Alzheimer's disease biology capable of detecting molecular changes upstream of traditional protein biomarkers. Strategically, this partnership extends our platform's clinical utility, accelerates market penetration across primary care and specialty settings, and creates compelling new opportunities for pharmaceutical partnerships focused on clinical trial enrichment, patient stratification, and real-world evidence generation."
The collaboration will initially focus on the joint development of multimodal machine learning models that combine retinal imaging data with blood circRNA biomarker profiles to deliver intelligent early AD diagnostic and disease progression risk insights. Vitazi.ai's oculomics platform leverages retinal imaging as a non-invasive window into systemic and neurological health, enabling optometrists and frontline clinicians to play an expanded role in preventive care and disease detection.
"We believe the future of disease detection lies in combining complementary data modalities that reflect different dimensions of human biology," said Jeremy Stueven, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Vitazi.ai. "The retina provides a unique, non-invasive lens into neurological and vascular health, while circRNA offers deep molecular insight into disease pathways. Together, we could create a scalable, clinically meaningful solution that empowers providers to detect disease earlier and intervene more effectively delivering value across the care continuum."
Circular RNA biomarkers are uniquely suited for neurodegenerative disease applications due to their stability, enrichment in brain tissue, and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Unlike single-analyte protein biomarkers, circRNAs enable a broader, pathway-level understanding of disease biology, offering the potential to better capture the complexity and heterogeneity of Alzheimer's disease—a critical advantage for both diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic development support.
"This collaboration enables the melding of orthogonal biological signals—structural and molecular—into unified predictive models of disease through joint analytical framework development," said Nikolaos Mellios, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Circular Genomics. "This approach represents a fundamental advancement in how we model and measure neurodegenerative disease biology, with implications that extend well beyond Alzheimer's to the broader landscape of precision neurology."
About Circular Genomics
Circular Genomics is the precision neurology leader pioneering circular RNA (circRNA) technology to develop next-generation molecular blood biomarker diagnostics. Leveraging the unique stability, brain enrichment, and biological relevance of circRNAs, the company is advancing a differentiated platform of blood-based tests designed to provide comprehensive, pathway-level insight into disease biology—with an initial focus on neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease. Circular Genomics' proprietary circRNA platform is positioned to address critical unmet needs in early disease detection, patient stratification, and therapeutic development support, creating strategic value for healthcare systems, pharmaceutical partners, and patients.
About Vitazi.ai
Vitazi.ai is dedicated to empowering optometrists with advanced oculomics tools that extend their impact beyond vision care. By leveraging retinal imaging and artificial intelligence, Vitazi.ai enables earlier detection of systemic and ocular diseases, supporting clinicians in delivering whole-person, preventive care while improving patient outcomes.
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SOURCE Circular Genomics
