Media Coverage

Blood-based biomarker tests are revolutionizing the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease by enabling earlier, faster, and more accessible detection—helping overcome long-standing diagnostic delays, underdiagnosis, and resource constraints. Michael Racke, MD, medical director for neurology at Quest Diagnostics, says that as recently as the 1980s, the telltale plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s found in the brain could only be detected postmortem, and since there was no treatment, diagnosing the disease wasn’t as critical at the time. Now, tests can detect the disease while the patient is alive, offering a chance at diagnosis and treatment.

It's important to note that anything can be toxic in a certain amount, says Jack Kain, PharmD, director of medical affairs and medical science liaison of drug monitoring and toxicology at Quest Diagnostics. Toxicologists measure toxic amounts in a few different ways. “There's an old saying in toxicology, ‘the dose makes the poison,’ which implies, if you take too much of almost anything, even something as simple as water, it can be toxic,” Dr. Kain says. A high dose of some toxins is necessary to be harmful, while small doses of other toxins can be dangerous.

Quest Diagnostics has signed up to offer a blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, following its FDA clearance earlier this year. Developed by Fujirebio, the Lumipulse G test measures the ratio between specific tau and beta amyloid proteins found in the bloodstream to identify patients likely to have plaque buildups in the brain without requiring them to undergo brain scans or spinal tap procedures.

At the ongoing ASM Microbe 2025, Meghan Starolis, PhD, senior science director of Infectious Diseases at the Quest Diagnostics’ Nichols Institute discussed her presentation, Conquering Antiviral Drug Resistance Via Novel Antivirals & New Testing Methods for Drug Resistance, which looked at genotypic and phenotypic testing and some of the benefits and challenges for each.

Quest Diagnostics will work on a blood test for cancer risk it says may help identify people who could benefit from more frequent screenings using technology developed at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dubbed the multi-cancer stratification test, or MCaST, Quest said it has licensed the center’s liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry approach to help build its own offering, which will aim to capture protein biomarkers circulating in the bloodstream that are associated with elevated risks for several different tumors.

Alex Louis, senior vice president of enterprise operations and operational excellence at Quest Diagnostics, shares more on how thoughtful planning is essential for successful automation implementation as clinical labs face growing pressure. Clinical laboratories in the US have long operated under significant pressure and challenges, and these have only intensified in recent times. Many laboratory leaders are now facing issues around workflow, staffing, and productivity. Improving the patient and customer experience is also a growing concern, so how can clinical laboratory leaders address these challenges quickly and smoothly?

Although nearly half of Americans know their streaming platform passwords by heart, only 19% are aware of what their cholesterol score is, according to new data from Quest Diagnostics. As part of its second “Know Your Health” survey, the Secaucus-based testing provider explored what perceptions and priorities adults have for their well-being in 2025. After surveying nearly 2,100 individuals, Quest found that 92% of respondents want to take a more active role in their health care journey. However, many said they face obstacles to receiving care, their doctors do not focus enough on preventive care discussions or have gaps in knowledge on important personal health information.

A new report reveals oncologists are seeing more advanced cancer cases due to screening barriers and are concerned current tests aren’t effective enough for early detection of recurrence. Takeaways: Screening barriers are seen as the leading cause of late-stage cancer diagnoses; Oncologists express concern that current monitoring tools may not detect cancer recurrence early; ctDNA MRD tests, like Quest’s new Haystack MRD, show promise in improving post-treatment cancer surveillance.

For decades now, consolidation has been one of the major trends in the clinical laboratory market as major players have grown their businesses through the acquisition of smaller independent and hospital labs. While much of this action has focused on the US market, these firms are looking internationally, as well, striking a number of recent deals to expand their footprints abroad. Last year, for instance, Quest acquired Canadian laboratory firm LifeLabs for roughly $985 million, giving the company a major presence in that country. Karthik Kuppusamy, senior VP of clinical solutions at Quest, said the firm sees opportunities to expand the LifeLabs business by moving into provinces not currently served by the company, winning business currently being done by hospital labs, and introducing new advanced diagnostics into the market.

Quest Diagnostics has introduced a new blood test aimed at assisting physicians in confirming amyloid brain pathology related to Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. The test, known as AD-Detect Abeta 42/40 and p-tau217 Evaluation, is said to combine amyloid beta (AB) 42/40 blood level outcomes, which are determined by Quest’s tandem mass spectrometry techniques with p-tau217 blood levels as measured by an in vitro immunoassay.