Elan and Cambridge University form new research centre
A research partnership and collaboration between the University of Cambridge in the UK and Irish pharmaceutical company Elan has been announced.
Together the two will create a new research centre dedicated to investigating degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and creating advanced therapies.
The Cambridge-Elan Centre for Research Innovation and Drug Discovery will be based at the University of Cambridge and Elan will be investing $10 million in the five year project, with an option to extend it by a further five years.
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Researchers from both organisations want to find out if there are any compounds which are capable of altering the behaviour of proteins associated with neurodegenerative disorders.
They are hopeful that if there are it will pave the way for the development of new treatments for illnesses like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Elan's two decades of experience in Alzheimer's research and its depth in biology and model systems is an ideal base from which to form the Centre.
This will be partnered with Cambridge University’s pioneering contributions in the development of biophysical approaches to study the molecular basis of protein misfolding and aggregation and their links to disease.
Commenting on the new partnership, Elan’s Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Dale Schenk, said: “This agreement is a natural next step in the existing working relationship between our scientists in South San Francisco and scientists at the University of Cambridge.
“This collaborative effort complements our portfolio of programs in neuroscience and supports the process of discovery which we believe may lead to a class of therapeutics that no one has thought possible before.”
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