University business collaboration into neurodegenerative disease

There is a growing appreciation for the need to collaborate effectively with business to ensure drugs are developed cheaply and effectively.  Our recent partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited is designed very much to achieve this, with the aim of identifying and validating novel target genes for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease.

The partnership will focus on various mechanistic approaches for identifying genes or signalling pathways that could modify neurodegenerative disease processes.  These have a big impact on neuronal health in areas such as motor neurone disease.

The three year collaboration includes support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, and will be carried out at Takeda’s research base in Cambridge.

Dr. Tetsuyuki Maruyama, General Manager of Takeda’s Pharmaceutical Research Division said: “At Takeda, we work with partners to accelerate innovation. We are looking forward to collaborating with UCL’s world-class researchers. This cooperation will help us to identify and validate novel therapeutic pathways in central nervous system diseases, which is one of Takeda’s core therapeutic areas – ultimately leading to new treatments for patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.”

Professor Nicholas Wood, Neuroscience Programme Director at the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, said: “I am delighted and excited with the potential of this initiative. It combines Takeda’s strengths in central nervous system (CNS) therapeutics with our research at UCL but importantly focuses on projects with huge experimental medicine potential”.

CNS is an area where we have a world class reputation, with the Institute of Neurology a centre of significant investment for dementia research.  Hopefully this partnership will allow further insights to be gained into this crucial area.