Siemens Healthineers to co-lead major EU Initiative advancing Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment

GERMANY—Siemens Healthineers will co-lead a groundbreaking European Union research initiative to transform how medical professionals diagnose, treat, and monitor Alzheimer’s Disease across the continent.

The ACCESS-AD project launches in January 2026 with an ambitious goal to establish a collaborative, patient-centered approach to Alzheimer’s care throughout Europe.

More than 30 European partners have joined forces for this initiative, bringing together hospitals, universities, patient organizations, and industry leaders.

These organizations contribute specialized expertise spanning neurology, medical imaging, data science, and patient advocacy.

The Innovative Health Initiative, a public-private partnership between the European Union and the life-sciences industry, co-funds this five-year project.

Siemens Healthineers leads the industrial contributions, while Amsterdam University Medical Center provides clinical leadership.

King’s College London and Gates Ventures serve as additional project co-leads.

Siemens Healthineers drives the development and validation of comprehensive solutions covering the entire Alzheimer’s patient pathway as part of a broader ecosystem.

These solutions range from blood tests enabling early detection to advanced MRI and PET imaging technologies that support diagnosis and therapy monitoring.

Alzheimer’s Disease presents an enormous medical and societal challenge, currently affecting more than 7 million people across the European Union.

Experts project this number will double by 2050, extending the disease’s impact to families, caregivers, and healthcare systems throughout the region.

Traditional treatments have focused primarily on managing symptoms, but the European Union approved new disease-modifying therapies in 2025, offering renewed hope for patients.

However, many national health systems face significant constraints due to diagnostic bottlenecks and limited capacity.

These systems already struggle to meet current demand for tests, imaging, and specialized follow-up care.

Without introducing innovative solutions, waiting times for these critical services could extend to years in some countries.

ACCESS-AD addresses these urgent needs by accompanying patients throughout their journey, from initial diagnosis and treatment decisions to ongoing monitoring.

The initiative incorporates insights from other Alzheimer’s-related programs to foster broader collaboration across the medical field.

The project enhances care by standardizing procedures, integrating cutting-edge industry solutions, and leveraging artificial intelligence for advanced disease management.

These AI applications analyze medical scans, blood tests, and digital health data to help predict treatment responses and identify patients facing higher risks of complications.

The project team will collect real-world data from more than 500 patients across Europe and conduct a pilot study testing various combinations of drug therapies and lifestyle interventions for Alzheimer’s care.

Siemens Healthineers offers an extensive portfolio spanning the complete Alzheimer’s care pathway, combining laboratory diagnostics and advanced imaging with digital tools.

Amira Romani, head of Innovation and Technology Strategy at Siemens Healthineers, emphasizes that current Alzheimer’s care suffers from fragmented and delayed pathways.

 She explains that ACCESS-AD brings together leading organizations from across Europe to make advanced diagnostics and therapies accessible to everyone, demonstrating the powerful impact of collaboration between industry, academia, and clinical partners in delivering personalized patient care.

Within ACCESS-AD, Siemens Healthineers empowers patients to collect capillary samples at home, allowing analysis of key Alzheimer’s biomarkers on the company’s laboratory platforms.

Gaby Marquardt, head of Clinical and Technology Innovation, Diagnostics, at Siemens Healthineers, notes that home-based blood collection empowers both patients and caregivers while supporting healthcare systems by reducing bottlenecks in specialist centers and enabling earlier intervention through more frequent and accessible testing.

This represents a crucial step toward making precision diagnostics scalable and equitable throughout Europe.

Siemens Healthineers also works to lower technical, operational, and financial barriers that currently limit access to high-quality brain imaging across Europe.

The company leads the development and clinical implementation of advanced MRI and PET/CT imaging solutions, extending these technologies beyond specialist centres.

In MRI applications, this includes compact, helium-free DryCool magnet technologies, AI-powered workflows and image reconstruction, plus accelerated brain-imaging protocols that significantly shorten scan times.

Andreas Schneck, head of Magnetic Resonance at Siemens Healthineers, highlights that ACCESS-AD reflects the company’s growing focus on disease management and dedication to improving health outcomes.

By making advanced neuroimaging more accessible, the initiative aims to streamline imaging workflows for Alzheimer’s diagnostics and monitoring, empowering healthcare providers to deliver more precise, patient-centered care.