Leading research charity’s expertise invaluable for academic project success
Stevenage & Cambridge, UK, November 20 2014 – Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), the UK’s first open innovation bioscience campus, is pleased to announce the UK’s leading dementia research charity, Alzheimer’s Research UK, has joined the consortium supporting its neurodegenerative diseases challenge. The expertise and insights that Alzheimer’s Research UK, the largest single charitable funder of dementia research in the country, brings will be extremely valuable in the selection and development of the early stage academic projects chosen for funding.
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst’s Open Innovation Challenge in Neurodegenerative Disease was developed to address growing healthcare needs in this therapeutic area by seeking novel project proposals from academic researchers. Launched by SBC, Manchester Integrating Medicine & Innovative Technology (MIMIT) and six leading Academic Health Science Centre Technology Transfer Organisations1 in May 20142, the research proposals received will undergo review by an expert panel which includes Alzheimer’s Research UK. Selected projects will be announced at the beginning of 2015.
Alzheimer’s Research UK currently funds projects worth over £22m, and its Research Network includes over 700 scientists, working at centres of dementia research excellence across the UK. In addition to grant funding, its initiatives include a network of soon-to-be launched Drug Discovery Institutes for lead development and the Dementia Consortium. The latter (which includes MRC Technology, Eisai and Lilly) focuses on target validation and aims to take promising leads towards clinical trials. The charity is also part of the Neurodegeneration Medicines Acceleration Programme (Neuro-MAP)3, a later stage programme which aims to drive forward research on drugs that are currently in pharmaceutical company libraries.
Eric Karran, Director of Research, Alzheimer’s Research UK, said, ‘Over 830,000 people in the UK are currently living with dementia, which is largely caused by neurodegenerative diseases, and we owe it to those people to apply every effort in the fight against this condition. Continued investment in research is crucial if we are to translate laboratory findings into patient benefit. This challenge seeks to stimulate research into this vitally important area, and we are delighted to support and help guide this initiative.’
Martino Picardo, CEO of SBC, said, ‘Alzheimer’s Research UK brings a unique and valuable perspective to our open innovation challenge, one that is highly complementary to our other partners. We believe that the diverse mix of organisations that has come together to tackle neurodegenerative diseases in this way is a great example of open innovation in action.’
--ENDS--
1 AHSC Technology Transfer Organisations involved are Cambridge Enterprise, Imperial Innovations Ltd, King’s Business, UCL Business, University of Manchester Intellectual Property, and Isis Innovations (Oxford University)
2 Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and MIMIT launch Open Innovation Challenge in Neurodegenerative Disease
3 MRC Technology to lead Neurodegeneration Medicines Acceleration Programme to uncover promising drugs in pharma libraries
For more information, please contact:
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Martino Picardo, CEO
+44 (0)1438 906906
Emma Palmer Foster, Strategic Communications Consultant
+44 (0)7880 787185
comms@stevenagecatalyst.com
Alzheimer’s Research UK
Kirsty Marais, Lead Media and Communications Officer
+44 (0)300 1115666
press@alzheimersresearchuk.org
Notes for Editors
About Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is the UK’s first open innovation bioscience campus, pioneering a unique culture to drive early stage bioscience technology and company development, and building a thriving community. It is backed by £38m of funding from its founding partners – GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) and the former East of England Development Agency. Consisting of an Incubator, an Accelerator and a Hub, covering 60,000 sq ft of laboratory, office and networking space, the independent facility houses a range of companies, from virtual and start-up firms to those which are more established, as well as other organisations. Co-located on the GlaxoSmithKline Stevenage site, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is in the unique position of operating in proximity to the expertise and resources of a major pharmaceutical company, close to both London and Cambridge. For more information, please go to www.stevenagecatalyst.com.
About Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst’s stakeholders Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst’s stakeholders are GlaxoSmithKline (www.gsk.com), the Wellcome Trust (www.wellcome.ac.uk), the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (www.bis.gov.uk), Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board; www.innovateuk.org) and the former East of England Development Agency (www.eeda.org.uk)
About Alzheimer’s Research UK
• Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leading charity specialising in finding preventions, treatments and a cure for dementia.
• We rely on donations to fund our vital dementia research. To help us defeat dementia, donate today by visiting www.alzheimersresearchuk.org or calling 0300 111 5555.
• We are currently supporting dementia research projects worth over £22 million in leading Universities across the UK.
• Our Defeat Dementia campaign, a pledge to raise £100 million in five years to grow the research field and accelerate progress towards new treatments and preventions, was announced by the Prime Minister at the G8 legacy event on 19 June 2014. For more information visit www.dementiablog.org/defeat-dementia
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