Eisai in neurological disease discovery alliance with UCL

Japanese pharmaceutical major Eisai (TYO: 4523) and University College London, UK, yesterday revealed plans to establish a major drug discovery and development collaboration in the neurology sector.

The unique alliance, financial terms of which were not disclosed,  will involve researchers from both organizations working together to investigate innovative new ways of treating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other related disorders. The goal of the collaboration will be to identify and validate novel drug targets, develop new therapeutics and evaluate them in proof-of-concept clinical trials.

UCL and Eisai will form a Therapeutic Innovation Group (TIG) which will comprise experienced scientists from both partners, 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. A Joint Steering Committee (JSC) will be established to govern the TIG and will be co-chaired by UCL’s Professor Alan Thompson and Eisai’s Neuroscience Unit president, Lynn Kramer.