Alterity Therapeutics publishes quantitative susceptibility mapping MRI data

Alterity Therapeutics (ATHE) announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study in NeuroImage, demonstrating that quantitative susceptibility mapping MRI can detect disease-specific iron accumulation in the brains of patients with Multiple System Atrophy, distinguish MSA from Parkinson’s disease, and track clinical disease severity – including in early-stage disease. MSA patients showed significantly higher iron content in the lentiform nucleus – comprising the globus pallidus and putamen – versus both healthy controls and PD, with the most pronounced effect in the globus pallidus. Iron content in the globus pallidus distinguished MSA from PD with moderate-to-good accuracy, with comparable performance in the early-stage subgroup – a setting in which clinical misdiagnosis is common. Higher iron content was significantly correlated with greater overall disease severity on the Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale, linking the imaging measure directly to patients’ functional and motor impairment. In preliminary 12-month analyses of the early-stage bioMUSE cohort, both the magnitude and spatial extent of abnormal iron accumulation increased progressively, paralleling clinical decline. Alterity remains on track to hold its End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA in mid-2026, the next key step toward initiation of a pivotal Phase 3 trial in MSA.