Bridging the Valley of Death of therapeutics for neurodegeneration.
Neurodegenerative diseases are the sixth leading cause of death in the US. The market for disease-modifying drugs is enormous, but no drug exists. Academic scientists are increasingly pursuing the discovery and development of therapeutics. Their progress could potentially reduce the risk of failure sufficiently to warrant greater industry investment and movement of leads into clinical trials. Here we consider the many obstacles to the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative disease within academia, with a special focus on organizational issues.
Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Taube-Koret Center for Huntington's Disease Research, Consortium for Fronto-temporal Dementia Research, and Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. sfinkbeiner@gladstone.ucsf.edu
Steven
S
Finkbeiner
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004345:Drug Industry; D006801:Humans; D018973:Intellectual Property; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000628:therapy*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D014495:Universities
D015415:Biomarkers