In December 2023, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Savara Inc. announced that the company had launched a serum-based blood test to aid in diagnosing autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (aPAP). While aPAP is the most common form of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, accounting for about 90% of cases, it can be difficult to identify. The aPAP ClearPath™ aims to overcome these difficulties and reduce the long diagnostic odyssey; the aPAP ClearPath website explains that it takes an average of 18 months for an accurate aPAP diagnosis.
Further, the aPAP ClearPath blood test is less invasive than current diagnostic tools. This sensitive and specific quantitative immunoassay can detect autoantibodies against granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). When GM-CSF cannot work properly, the body’s alveolar macrophages are unable to clean surfactants and surfactant sediment from the lungs. Normally, surfactants line the alveoli in the lungs. In the disease, excess surfactants accumulate in the alveoli and cause a number of health issues.
When Savara launched the aPAP ClearPath test, the company also launched an awareness campaign to educate physicians and the general public about autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, its symptoms, and how to reduce the diagnostic process.
Learn more about the aPAP ClearPath test or request a test of your own here.
What is Autoimmune Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (aPAP)?
An estimated 300 to 3,000 people in the United States have autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, although many surmise that the condition is widely underdiagnosed. This rare autoimmune lung disorder typically affects people between ages 20 and 50. aPAP may be asymptomatic in some cases, which means that those affected don’t show any symptoms. In people who are symptomatic, symptoms may include:
- Fatigue and general malaise
- Shortness of breath upon exertion
- A dry, chronic cough that might produce blood
- Unintentional weight loss
- Chest pain
- Difficulty worsening that grows progressively worse
- Cyanosis (bluish discoloration of the skin and mucosa)
- Clubbed fingernails or toenails
- A low level of blood oxygen
aPAP is typically treated with a lung lavage or GM-CSF supplemental therapy.
