London, UK, North Chicago USA, 16 February 2016: The Dementia Consortium has welcomed AbbVie as new pharmaceutical partner, joining medical research charity MRC Technology, Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, and pharmaceutical companies Astex, Eisai and Lilly.
The Consortium is a global £4m collaboration between academia, charity and the private sector which aims to find new drug treatments for dementia. This combination of expertise is being used to drive early stage drug discovery programmes against promising academic targets for neurodegenerative disease.
AbbVie brings additional expertise, resources and capital to the Consortium, allowing more projects to be funded and progressed towards patient benefit.
Dr Jim Summers, Vice-President of Neuroscience Discovery Research at AbbVie said: “We are pleased to be part of the Dementia Consortium. This innovative approach to validating new drug targets is an important component of our strategy to develop new therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases.”
Dr Simon Ridley, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “It’s a very positive development to have AbbVie join the Dementia Consortium, strengthening our ability to accelerate the search for effective new treatments for dementia. We know that in order to find new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, we need to explore as many different approaches as possible, and our growing range of Pharma partnerships will ensure we can continue to invest in a diverse range of projects to build drug discovery pipelines.”
To date, the Consortium has awarded over £1.5m to early stage drug discovery efforts for neurodegenerative diseases, including projects that target the immune system in a bid to halt nerve cell damage in Alzheimer’s and a project studying targeting TDP-43 aggregation in frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
For further information about the consortium please visit http://www.dementiaconsortium.org/.
ENDS
Editor’s Notes:
Media enquiries:
Katie Odgaard
Zyme Communications
Email: Katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com
Tel: +44(0) 7787 502 947
Liezel Tipper PR and Communications Manager, MRC Technology
Email: Liezel.Tipper@tech.mrc.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0) 20 7391 2772
Further information
AbbVie
AbbVie is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company formed in 2013 following separation from Abbott Laboratories. The company’s mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to develop and market advanced therapies that address some of the world’s most complex and serious diseases. Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pharmacyclics, AbbVie employs more than 28,000 people worldwide and markets medicines in more than 170 countries. For further information on the company and its people, portfolio and commitments, please visit www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter or view careers on our Facebook or LinkedIn page.
MRC Technology (www.mrctechnology.org)
MRC Technology is an independent life science medical research charity committed to improving the opportunities for positive patient outcomes everywhere. As a champion for human health, MRC Technology partners with academic, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and charity organisations to move promising medical research forward into viable and accessible patient treatments. As a charity we are self-funded, reinvesting our incomes to support translating research from the bench to patient.
Our people combine commercialisation and IP management skills with diagnostic and drug discovery expertise, specialising in small molecule and therapeutic antibodies. MRC Technology projects have led to several approved drugs changing the lives of countless patients by harnessing the potential of science.
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 £26 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
