Study · Recruiting
A national map of APOE,
one swab at a time.
Alzevit is inviting 50,000 volunteers across France to provide a simple cheek swab, creating the first national picture of how the APOE gene is distributed across the population.
APOE is the strongest common genetic factor associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Yet France has never been systematically mapped for APOE.
Everything happens by post. No clinic visit. No appointment. No cost.
Study at a glance
- Sponsor
- Firalis SAS — Huningue, France
- Registration
- RCB 2026-A00246-45
- Design
- Decentralised observational cohort
- Population
- Adults aged 45+, metropolitan France
- Sites
- None — the study is conducted entirely by post
50,000 participants≈ 1,000 ε4/ε4 carriers
One dot for every participant the study aims to enrol.
The ε4/ε4 carriers are the people Alzevit ultimately needs to identify — around 1,000 people among the 50,000 participants.
Why recruit everyone else? Because you cannot find a rare genotype without looking across the population.
The ~2% estimate for ε4/ε4 is based on published European data. Alzevit is designed to measure the actual proportion in France. Source: [to cite]
Almost everyone who takes part will not have the genotype the study is looking for. That is precisely what makes the study work.
The gene
Three letters. Six possible pairs. One blind spot.
Everyone inherits two copies of APOE — one from each parent.
ε2 is generally associated with lower Alzheimer’s risk.
ε3 is the most common form.
ε4 increases risk, with two copies — ε4/ε4 — associated with substantially higher risk and earlier disease onset.
France has never had a national register of people carrying two ε4 copies.
That matters. Prevention studies looking for ε4/ε4 participants have no national population from which to recruit. Precision medicine cannot be built around a population that has never been properly measured.
Alzevit aims to change that — first by mapping APOE, then by following ε4/ε4 carriers over time.
71–93%
of Alzheimer’s cases have been estimated to be attributable to the ε3 and ε4 forms of APOE.
85% of amyloid deposits have also been reported in association with these forms.
Taking part
Ten minutes.
No clinic required.
The kit travels. The participant doesn’t.
Consent is completed online. The swab is taken at home, at the kitchen table if you like, and the sample is returned by post.
- 01
Read & check
Read the information note and answer a few questions to confirm eligibility.
On alzevit.com, in French.
- 02
Consent
Sign electronically.
Nothing to print. Nothing to post. No appointment.
- 03
Kit arrives
An ORAcollect®Dx buccal swab kit is delivered directly to your home.
- 04
Swab & return
Take a simple, painless cheek swab and return the prepaid envelope by post.
Eligibility
Who can take part?
Eligibility is confirmed on the participant website before a kit is sent.
4 conditions · 3 exclusionsVerdict
- 01Resident in metropolitan FranceRequired
- 02Aged 45 or overRequired
- 03Able to read and understand the information and provide consentRequired
- 04Affiliated with a social security schemeRequired
- 05Cognitive or physical limitation preventing completion of the study tasksExcluded
- 06Active infection or treatment known to interfere with cognitionExcluded
- 07Documented alcohol or drug abuse within the past 24 monthsExcluded
Be clear about this
Your genotype will not be returned to you.
That is deliberate.
An APOE result can have important personal and psychological consequences, and a decentralised postal study is not designed to provide the counselling and clinical support needed to interpret an individual result.
So Alzevit does not return individual APOE results, unless you choose to request it.
Instead, participants contribute to something bigger:
- A map that did not existThe first national picture of APOE genotype distribution across France — replacing estimates borrowed from other European populations.
- A way to find ε4/ε4 carriersPrevention studies need access to ε4/ε4 participants, often before symptoms appear. Today, there is no national register to draw from.
- A documented trajectoryBy following ε4/ε4 carriers over time, Alzevit can turn a statistical genotype into a documented longitudinal picture of health and disease progression.
- Groundwork for precision medicineBetter prevention starts with knowing who is at risk, where they are, and how disease develops over time.
Who runs it
Sponsored by Firalis, genotyped by Amoneta.
- FiralisSponsor and operator
Runs the study end to end. Its biological sampling centre in Huningue is authorised by the ARS, and its integrated biobank keeps every specimen traceable.
- ISO 9001
- ISO 13485
- ISO 20387
- AmonetaGenotyping
Performs APOE genotyping with APO-Easy®, enabling participant identification and stratification by APOE genotype within the Alzevit study.
- CE-IVDR
- The study teamDirect lineAlzevit@firalis.com+33 (0)3 89 91 13 20Contact the group
Ethics and data
What the study does with what you send.
- Registration
- RCB 2026-A00246-45
- Data
- Pseudonymised, held on certified health-data servers, reachable only by named staff
- Regulation
- GDPR, with a declaration filed with the CNIL
- Individual results
- Not returned, unless a participant asks for their own
- The sample
- Kept for research only, within the limits of the consent signed
- Withdrawal
- At any time, without justification, by writing to the study team
- Cost
- None, at any step
Interested in the Alzevit study?
To participate in the Alzevit study, visit the dedicated study website for information about the study and enrolment. For partnerships, data access or media enquiries, contact the Firalis team directly.