Collaboration with the MRC for dementia research

RNS Number : 9830J

IXICO plc

19 June 2014

 



19 June 2014

IXICO joins collaboration with the Medical Research Council to accelerate research into dementia

IXICO plc (Ticker: IXI) ("IXICO" or the "Company"), the brain health company, is pleased to note the announcement from the Medical Research Council (MRC) that it has launched the UK Dementias Research Platform (UKDP), a £16 million public-private partnership set up to speed up research into dementias. IXICO will act as the MRC's imaging partner on the project, alongside other industry partners Araclon, MedImmune, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Research & Development and SomaLogic.

UKDP will investigate the causes of dementia across a range of different neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and motor neurone disease. The aim is to enable earlier detection, improved treatment and disease prevention.

Professor Derek Hill, Chief Executive of IXICO commented:

"We are pleased to be part of this collaboration, and to provide the use of Assessa™, our CE marked digital healthcare platform for decision-support in dementia diagnosis. With two million volunteers providing data, this is the world's largest study into dementias and we look forward to working with both industry and academic experts to gain a greater understanding of this debilitating condition."

Academic partners include: the University of Cardiff (academic lead), University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Newcastle University, University of Oxford, Swansea University and University College London.

The full text of the announcement can be found below.

MRC brings industry and academia together in new approach to accelerate dementias research

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has today launched the UK Dementias Research Platform (UKDP), a £16 million public-private partnership set up to speed up research into dementias.  The collaboration aims to enable earlier detection, improved treatment and, ultimately, prevention of the disease, by looking not just at what is going wrong in the brain, but at the brain in the context of the whole body.

With the UKDP, the MRC is bringing together industry expertise and investigator teams from eight UK universities and teaming them with what will be the world's largest group of participants in dementias research (more than two million people).  The Platform's combination of skills and resources, and its focus on looking at the whole body in order to understand neurodegenerative disease, aims to unearth completely new approaches for intervention, including new drug treatments. 

The Platform will investigate the causes of dementia across a range of different neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.

Key to this 'whole body' approach will be the study of data from two million volunteers aged 50 and over who have taken part in existing population studies such as UK Biobank and the Million Women Study. Participants in these studies have generously provided a wealth of medical and lifestyle data which UKDP researchers will link to emerging biological data from genetic studies, brain imaging and cognitive testing.  Studying the data will give researchers a better understanding of who is at risk of getting dementia, possible triggers that lead to disease, and what might speed up or slow down its progression.

The resource will also allow scientists to identify better biological and cognitive measures (biomarkers) of the key changes associated with dementia. This will enable them to develop new and more accurate clinical trials and find ways to limit and improve symptoms and quality of life for those affected. 

Dr John Gallacher, from Cardiff University and director of the UKDP, said "We now know that neurodegeneration can be linked to changes taking place in parts of the body seemingly unrelated to the brain and many years before dementia is diagnosed. For example, inflammation or infection in a completely different organ may be related to the development of dementia or to accelerating the onset in people with the disease. So it's imperative that we look at the different stages of disease development: people who are yet to develop dementia; those who are known to be at risk of developing it, and those who are already in the early stages of the disease.

"By looking at the links between development of the disease and other factors - such as diet or illness - we hope to unearth targets for new drugs or new uses for existing drugs."

The project has attracted industry partners from both within the UK and abroad: Araclon; MedImmune, the global biologics research & development arm of AstraZeneca; GSK; IXICO; Janssen Research & Development in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation; and SomaLogic. The academic partners are: Cardiff University (academic lead), University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Newcastle University, University of Oxford, Swansea University and University College London.

Science Minister David Willetts said: "This new £16 million UK Dementia Platform will create the world's largest ever study group for research into dementia, ensuring that data is freely available to support the work of international scientists in this very important area.

"The collaborative approach demonstrated by the Medical Research Council and its business partners through this platform is critical in helping us to achieve our target of doubling dementia research funding and making the UK the best place in the world to do life sciences."

Notes to editors:

The UKDP was announced at the 2014 Global Dementia Legacy Event at the Guildhall, London, by Secretary of State for Health, the Right Honourable Jeremy Hunt.  The event was organised to as a follow-up to the 2013 G8 Dementia Summit.

The six UK and international companies (3 pharma, 3 SME) have signed a consortium agreement which will allow shared access to the research resources and the rich and unique data in the UKDP, and provide a basis for instigating joint studies. These companies have chosen to invest in the partnership in spite of many competing priorities and other opportunities in dementias research worldwide, eg. SomaLogic, which is based in Colorado, has decided to establish a research base in the UK as a result of the Platform. A number of other companies have held in depth discussions with MRC about involvement in the UKDP, and have retained an interest in joining the partnership at a later point.

The NIHR-funded Translational Research Collaboration in Dementia, spanning six NHS Trusts, is also a stakeholder in the UKDP. NIHR has recently instigated a feasibility study to identify biomarkers in Alzheimer's Disease, in partnership with MRC, which if successful will lead to a full joint MRC-NIHR funded project that will be incorporated into the UKDP in 2015.

For more information:

MRC Press Office: Carmel Turner [e-mail] 020 7395 2273 or 020 7395 2345

About IXICO

IXICO, the brain health company, was founded in 2004 with a mission to translate image acquisition, management and analysis technology and know-how, which the founders had developed together, into commercial products targeting the expanding area of imaging to inform decision-making during drug development. This has resulted in commercially successful products being launched in the clinical trials (Phase 0-III) and experimental medicine markets and more recently launched into the wider clinical diagnostic market. Since incorporation, IXICO has been awarded contracts by nine of the top fifteen global pharmaceutical companies as well as leading biotechnology companies. In October 2013, IXICO plc was admitted to trading on AIM. More information is available on www.ixico.com

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