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 The global Dementia Discovery Fund is unique in focusing on a single
difficult to treat disorder and in bringing together industry and
government.
Drug companies involved include GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson,
Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Biogen Idec.
The initiative, announced by Britain's health minister Jeremy Hunt
at a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday, follows a Group of Eight (G8)
nations conference in London in December 2013 that set a goal of
finding a cure or effective treatment for Alzheimer's and other
forms of dementia by 2025.
GSK's head of research and development Patrick Vallance told Reuters
the 2025 goal was "hugely ambitious" but that pooling resources
through the new fund to back promising ideas from academic groups
and small biotech firms would help to accelerate research.
"It's tough to crack but the science is moving," Vallance said.
"People are now beginning to look at subsets of dementia and the
genetics of neurodegeneration, so there are real opportunities."
Venture capital funds are a common source of finance for high-risk,
early-stage life science research, but the new fund is the first to
focus solely on dementia.
The British government, which has worked with J.P. Morgan as
financial adviser in setting up the fund, said that additional
interested investors would have an opportunity to participate at a
later stage.
As well as providing financial support, research projects that
secure the fund's backing will gain expert advice during the
critical early stages of research, with charity Alzheimer’s Research
UK also involved alongside industry.
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Individual pharmaceutical companies wanting to go on to develop
particular projects commercially will be able to bid for rights to
do so, with money raised from the bidding process to be reinvested
in the fund.
The British government, as project leader, is contributing $22
million, while GSK is putting in $25 million and J&J $10 million,
with further money coming from other companies.
Dementia, of which Alzheimer's is the most common form, affects
close to 50 million people worldwide and is set to reach 135 million
by 2050, according to non-profit campaign group Alzheimer's Disease
International.
There is still no treatment that can slow the progression of
Alzheimer's. Current drugs can do no more than ease some of the
symptoms.
(Editing by David Goodman)
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