Drug firms and Government invest £65m in dementia fund

The UK Government and major pharmaceutical companies are investing £65m ($100m) in a global fund to develop new treatments for dementia.

The UK Government and six drug companies namely GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Johnson & Johnson, Biogen, Lilly, Pfizer and Takeda have raised money for The Dementia Discovery Fund.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) more than 35 million people are living with dementia worldwide. This number is expected to triple by 2050, yet there are currently no medicines available to prevent or cure this disease.

The Government has put £15m in the funding pot, whose origins stem from London’s G8 dementia summit in 2013.

Referring to the summit, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Britain has led the global battle against dementia. At that meeting, I made clear there had to be a big global push to find new treatments and a cure for dementia.

"Dementia is one of the greatest enemies of humanity and we must all play our part defeating it.”

In March, the fund was announced at the World Health Organisation Global Dementia Conference with health ministers from over 60 countries attending to hear about it.

Dr Jan Lundberg, president of Lilly Research Laboratories, which contributed to the fund, said: “We welcome the UK Government and WHO’s leadership in this area.

“The UK is a great place for science and discovery, and we believe this fund will provide the resources to help advance vital research.”

GSK has made the largest financial contribution, investing £17m ($25m) and the company plans to bring its neurosciences expertise to the table.

Patrick Vallance, president of GSK's Pharmaceuticals R&D, said: “The scientific community’s most powerful tool in its fight against dementia is collaboration, to stimulate new avenues of drug discovery.

“This is a complex and costly area of research and if we’re to succeed in developing innovative new treatments, we must be prepared to work together and jointly shoulder the risk of ambitious new approaches.

“This new fund provides the framework for us to do precisely that, bringing together world-leaders in dementia research and combining resources to invest in exciting potential new therapies and start-up companies.”

International life sciences venture capital firm SV Life Sciences (SVLS) has been appointed as fund manager. Supported by an advisory board made up of scientists and the fund’s investors, SVLS will identify innovative drug projects to invest in to change the course of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Dementia affects 850,000 people in the UK according to Alzheimer’s Research, which is supporting the global investment.

Matthew Norton, head of policy at the charity, said: “A fund of this type is a world-first for dementia research. With no treatments currently able to tackle the diseases that cause dementia, the condition is arguably our greatest medical challenge and this initiative is a vital part of the fightback.”

Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer said: “Together we will advance brain research, leading to innovative, disease-modifying treatments for patients with dementia.”

Echoing other investors' comments on the need for collaboration, Andrew Plump, chief medical and scientific officer at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company said: “The formation of the dementia discovery fund will bring together the best minds in scientific research to tackle this debilitating disease with the opportunity to change the future of medicine.

“Takeda is proud to be a founding partner in this unique initiative to help patients reclaim valuable moments of their life from illness.”