UK DEMENTIA DRUG DISCOVERY TO RECEIVE £45 MILLION BOOST

A decade ago, the dementia treatment landscape looked bleak. Disease‑modifying therapies felt distant, and many promising discoveries emerging from UK universities struggled to progress towards clinical trials.

To transform this picture, Alzheimer’s Research UK launched the Drug Discovery Alliance (DDA) in 2015, uniting three world‑leading centres at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College London (UCL). The aim was bold and simple: turn more early‑stage scientific ideas into potential new treatments.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen significant progress. The drug discovery pipeline has been strengthened at the same time as the first treatments capable of slowing Alzheimer’s are beginning to reach patients worldwide.

Yet too many promising ideas are still not making it out of the lab.  That’s why Alzheimer’s Research UK is making a renewed, long‑term commitment. At our Annual Research Conference in Manchester, Director of Research Dr Sheona Scales announced that the DDA will be renewed for another five years, backed by up to £45 million of new investment.