LONDON & CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UCL (University College London) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502) today announced 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 Limited, Takeda's research unit based in Cambridge, UK. It is one of the largest university partnerships formed by Takeda in the United Kingdom.
Dr. 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."
Professor Nicholas Wood, Neuroscience Programme Director at the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, said: "I am delighted and excited with the potential of this initiative. It combines Takeda's strengths in central nervous system (CNS) therapeutics with our research at UCL but importantly focuses on projects with huge experimental medicine potential".
Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences, UCL said: "Developing new treatments for devastating neurodegenerative diseases is an absolutely essential but very challenging goal and requires the complementary expertise of academia and industry, if it is to be achieved. This UCL-Takeda collaboration represents just such a partnership and as Dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences, I am delighted to see it evolving so well."
UCL is a world leading university in CNS research with a world class reputation in the field of neurodegeneration and rare neurological disorders. UCL's Institute of Neurology is a centre of significant investment for dementia research with a highly engaged and interactive faculty.
Takeda Cambridge is a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a research-based global pharmaceutical company. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to strive towards better health for people worldwide through leading innovation in medicine. Takeda Cambridge is Takeda's research unit in the UK focused on target identification and drug discovery, with CNS being one of its key focus areas.