August 27, 2026, ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Water Tower Research (www.watertowerresearch.com) has published a report on Circular Genomics, Inc. titled, “Targeting the Prediction Gap in Alzheimer’s Diagnostics”. The report can be accessed here.
Circular Genomics, Inc. is a private molecular diagnostics company based in San Diego that was founded in 2021 and is a resident at Lilly Gateway Labs. The company develops blood-based diagnostics built on circular RNA (circRNA), a highly stable, brain-enriched class of non-coding RNA biomarkers. Its foundational intellectual property is licensed from Washington University School of Medicine, Max Delbrück Center, and the University of New Mexico. On July 1, 2026, the company published its lead Alzheimer’s data in Nature Medicine and simultaneously launched CircPATH™, its research-use-only (RUO) discovery and biomarker validation platform.
What it does. From a single tube of whole blood, Circular Genomics can measure upwards of 1,600 biologically relevant and brain-enriched circRNAs in addition to a specific 34-circRNA signature designed to both detect Alzheimer’s and predict which cognitively normal individuals are most likely to progress to symptomatic disease within five years. In the published study, the signature matched or exceeded the performance of the leading blood biomarker, plasma pTau217, for diagnosing Alzheimer’s (AUC 0.945 vs. 0.877) while demonstrating stronger prediction of disease progression (hazard ratio 2.92 vs. 1.81). Combining the circRNA signature with pTau217 produced the highest overall predictive performance.
Why it matters. Plasma pTau217 becomes abnormal many years before symptoms emerge and is highly effective at identifying Alzheimer’s pathology, but it is less effective at predicting when an individual will clinically decline. The circRNA signature appears to become abnormal much closer to symptom onset, approximately two to four years beforehand, making it a more actionable and complementary biomarker that may help answer the question most relevant to clinicians and prevention-trial sponsors: who is likely to develop symptoms, and when?
How it plans to make money. Circular Genomics is pursuing a staged commercialization strategy. It will initially generate revenue through RUO profiling services for pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and academic researchers, helping improve patient selection and enrichment in Alzheimer’s clinical trials (lowering trial costs and accelerating readouts and subsequent commercialization) as well as enabling biological validation of target engagement and pharmacodynamic monitoring of response. The company then plans to launch a laboratory-developed test (LDT) for clinical use before ultimately pursuing FDA clearance for an in vitro diagnostic (IVD). Management expects first commercial RUO revenue in early 2027. The fact that Alzheimer’s is believed to involve multiple underlying biological processes—and may ultimately require several distinct therapeutic classes—the RUO is expected to continue to fuel a meaningful part of Circular Genomics’ business for the foreseeable future.
Where it’s headed. Led by a CEO with a track record of building companies toward acquisition, Circular Genomics appears to be positioning itself for a potential bolt-on acquisition by an established diagnostics company, most likely after establishing clinical adoption through its LDT. Beyond Alzheimer’s, the platform has longer-term expansion opportunities in Parkinson’s, MS, and ALS, while its legacy psychiatry program, MindLight, is currently being evaluated for licensing or divestiture.
The state of play. Circular Genomics has raised ~$25 million to date, has a cash runway into mid-1Q27, and is actively raising a Series B financing with several prospective lead investors. The company now has peer-reviewed clinical validation and benefits from a more favorable regulatory pathway for LDTs. However, it remains pre-revenue in diagnostics, its clinical evidence is largely retrospective and heavily weighted toward well-characterized cohorts from its discovery institution, prospective multi-center validation and payer engagement have yet to occur, and successful commercialization remains closely tied to completing its next financing on schedule.
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