UCL and Takeda partner to identify novel therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases

The UK’s University College London (UCL) and Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502) have entered into a new research collaboration to identify and validate novel target genes for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease.

This collaboration will focus on mechanistic approaches for the identification of genes or signalling pathways that modify neurodegenerative disease processes affecting neuronal health (for example motor neurone disease [MND or ALS], Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease). The collaboration, which includes support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre,will initially run for a three-year period. It will be carried out by Takeda Cambridge, Takeda’s research unit based in Cambridge, UK. It is one of the largest university partnerships formed by Takeda in the UK.

Tetsuyuki Maruyama, general manager of Takeda’s pharmaceutical research division, said: “At Takeda, we work with partners to accelerate innovation. We are looking forward to collaborating with UCL’s world-class researchers. This cooperation will help us to identify and validate novel therapeutic pathways in central nervous system diseases, which is one of Takeda’s core therapeutic areas – ultimately leading to new treatments for patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.”