Todos Medical Ltd. exercised the right to acquire the remaining 80.01% stake in its joint venture Breakthrough Diagnostics from Amarantus BioScience Holdings Inc.

Israeli biotechnology company Todos finalized the joint venture with Amarantus in March to develop a new blood test for Alzheimer's disease, called lymphocyte proliferation test, or LymPro.

Todos' decision to acquire the joint venture follows the review of data submitted by the University of Leipzig.

Results showed that LymPro has a strong association with amyloid PET, an imaging test that visualizes plaques in the brain. These plaques are associated with the damaging and killing of nerve cells in Alzheimer's disease.

The transaction is subject to Todos listing its common shares on a national stock exchange. Currently, the company is listed on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol TOMDF.

"The data we received is exciting as we believe it will lead to the creation of a screening test for Alzheimer's, potentially the first to be developed," said Todos President and CEO Herman Weiss. He added that early diagnosis may have a meaningful impact on the cost curve associated with the disease, estimated at about $250 billion annually in the U.S. and is expected to grow to $1.2 trillion by 2050.

In addition, New York-based biotechnology company Amarantus has engaged Evolution Venture Partners, an advisory and investment firm, for six months to assist the company in evaluating potential business opportunities and strategic alternatives in the legal hemp industry.

Amarantus said it will continue to execute on its biopharmaceutical holding company financing and spinoff model while it evaluates launching or acquiring hemp-based operations.