ALA Diagnostics, founded in Madrid in 2019, develops a blood test to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) by measuring a protein called sIFNAR2 with an ELISA kit. Its EIC application said diagnosis currently takes about a year and is wrong in 20% of cases, and promised "the first MS diagnostic kit, based on our patented recombinant protein, which is the only specific and clinically validated biomarker that exists for the diagnosis of MS in blood", according to CORDIS.
The European Innovation Council granted €1,407,525 towards a €2.01 million project from February 2023 to July 2025. The project had five objectives: an industrial prototype, a diagnostic algorithm, "an international clinical trial to obtain CE Mark and FDA Approval", validation for subclinical MS, and distribution or licensing deals. The final report says technical barriers "forced us to produce two new versions of the diagnostic kit", delaying the project, and that "the amendment requested to extend the project was not approved and as a consequence the clinical trial was not performed within the frame of the project". It says the company has "completed the development of the first industrial prototype" and plans to run the trial "through other means".
Company file
- Legal entity
- ALA Diagnostics S.L., Madrid
- Founded
- July 2019
- Chair
- José Ramón Montero Martín-Caloto
- Product
- ELISA kit measuring serum sIFNAR2 for MS diagnosis
- Prior validation
- 598 human samples, per company
- EIC project
- 1 Feb 2023 to 31 Jul 2025, closed
- EIC funding
- Grant first
Where ALA Diagnostics Stands Now
ALA Diagnostics has annual turnover below €500,000 and registered a small capital increase in March 2026, according to Empresia. In October 2025 the MS patient foundation GAEM featured the company saying it "will launch" a kit for early MS detection, according to its website. No clinical trial, CE mark or FDA filing has been announced since the project ended. When the award was announced in 2023, coverage republished by the company said it was preparing to enter the US market.
"Unfortunatelly, the amendment requested to extend the project was not approved and as a consequence the clinical trial was not performed within the frame of the project."
ALA Diagnostics, final report to the EIC (spelling as published)The Test: A Protein Marker in Blood
MS affects about 700,000 people in Europe and 2.8 million worldwide, the application says. ALA's kit measures a soluble interferon receptor, sIFNAR2, in serum. The company says its biomarker was validated in 598 samples before the project, and that the test is fast, cheap and easy to fit into routine care.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
Of the project's five objectives, the report documents one: an industrial prototype. The clinical trial that was the gateway to CE and FDA approval did not happen, because the kit took longer to develop and the EIC declined to extend the grant. The report does not mention progress on the algorithm, subclinical validation or distribution deals. CORDIS lists the project as closed.
- Industrial prototypeDeliveredAfter two redesigns.
- Clinical trial for approvalMissedExtension refused.
- CE and FDA approvalMissedNot obtained.
- Distribution dealsUnverifiedNot reported.
The Money
The grant covered 70% of the budget. ALA's share capital has grown in small steps since 2022. No private funding round has been announced, and how the company will pay for the clinical trial it plans to run "through other means" is not public.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
Why the extension was refused, how much of the grant was paid for work that did not include the trial, whether ALA has started the trial since, and how it is funded are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
A simple blood test for MS could shorten a diagnosis that takes a year and reduce misdiagnosis. The EIC backed a small Spanish company to get there, but the project ended before the evidence regulators require was produced. The case shows how a technical delay can leave a grant with a prototype and no product.
What the project promised
A finished MS blood test, validated in an international trial and approved in Europe and the US.
What the record shows
An industrial prototype after two redesigns, no trial, no approval, and turnover under €500,000.
The Verdict
Prototype only
ALA Diagnostics built its kit but ran out of project time before the trial that would prove it. The test is not approved or on sale.
ALA Diagnostics and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
