Book contents
- Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Section 1 Advancing Alzheimer’s Disease Therapies in a Collaborative Science Ecosystem
- Section 2 Non-clinical Assessment of Alzheimer’s Disease Candidate Drugs
- Section 3 Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials
- Section 4 Imaging and Biomarker Development in Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery
- Section 5 Academic Drug-Development Programs
- 37 Institutional Review Boards and Oversight of Alzheimer’s Disease Trials
- 38 SPARKing Drug Development for Alzheimer’s Disease in Academia
- 39 The Role of Professional Associations and Patient Advocacy in Advancing Alzheimer’s Drug Development
- Section 6 Public–Private Partnerships in Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Section 7 Funding and Financing Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Index
- References
38 - SPARKing Drug Development for Alzheimer’s Disease in Academia
from Section 5 - Academic Drug-Development Programs
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 March 2022
- Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Section 1 Advancing Alzheimer’s Disease Therapies in a Collaborative Science Ecosystem
- Section 2 Non-clinical Assessment of Alzheimer’s Disease Candidate Drugs
- Section 3 Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials
- Section 4 Imaging and Biomarker Development in Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery
- Section 5 Academic Drug-Development Programs
- 37 Institutional Review Boards and Oversight of Alzheimer’s Disease Trials
- 38 SPARKing Drug Development for Alzheimer’s Disease in Academia
- 39 The Role of Professional Associations and Patient Advocacy in Advancing Alzheimer’s Drug Development
- Section 6 Public–Private Partnerships in Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Section 7 Funding and Financing Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development
- Index
- References
Summary
Drug discovery and development is a long and arduous process and is particularly challenging for Alzheimer’s disease given the incomplete understanding of molecular mechanisms, variability in clinical presentation, relatively slow disease progression, and heterogeneous patient population. The lack of predictive preclinical models combined with the long and expensive clinical trials raise additional barriers to therapeutic development. Tens of thousands of academic publications identify potential biomarkers, molecular mechanisms, preclinical models, and interventions, yet very few have led to industry-sponsored drug development programs. In this chapter, we will describe one academic program’s approach to bridging the “valley of death.” The Stanford University SPARK Program helps academics advance their projects through the applied science stage of development, reducing the risk to potential industry partners. SPARK uses simple and easily replicated principles to ensure that more academic discoveries find their way to impact patients and to benefit society. Approximately 60% of SPARK projects advance to industry partnerships or directly into university-sponsored clinical trials.
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- Alzheimer's Disease Drug DevelopmentResearch and Development Ecosystem, pp. 437 - 448Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022