Eisai and UCL sign first-of-its-kind research alliance

Hannah Blake

pharmaphorum

Japanese pharma company, Eisai, and the University College London have announced a agreement to establish a major drug discovery and development collaboration. The aim of the collaboration will be to identify and validate novel drug targets, develop new therapeutics and evaluate them in clinical trials. The alliance will involve researchers from both organisations to investigate innovative ways of treating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

This will be the first time that that joint research is conducted by a partnership involving a public institution in the UK and a pharmaceutical company.

“Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease represent a significant unmet medical need due to lack of effective treatments that can prevent disease progression. UCL’s is a world-class academic institution with specialised research capabilities and we expect this exciting partnership to be very successful. In this unique collaboration, we hope our complementary expertise will identify potential new drug targets that we can bring to market and make available to patients that need it the most.”

Dr Lynn Kramer, President, Eisai Neuroscience Product Creation Unit.

Under terms of the agreement, UCL and Eisai will form a Therapeutic Innovation Group (TIG) which will comprise experienced scientists from both sides with the principal function of facilitating and coordinating the discovery and assessment of emerging therapeutic targets involved in neurological diseases. The TIG will also be responsible for the co-development of completely new research areas of interest.

“This is a genuinely new way of collaborating on pharmaceutical research for UCL, with exciting implications for research with the potential to lead to step changes in the treatment of diseases which affect the nervous system, such as Alzheimer’s. It will already build on many years of close working and collaboration with Eisai, which I am confident will lead to the development of much-needed, new effective therapeutic agents.”

Professor Sir John Tooke, Vice Provost for Health at UCL.