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news.Biogen has formed a strategic alliance with the Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center to improve understanding of the underlying biology of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and discover new tools and programs to accelerate research and development of new PD treatments.
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The deal will combine the institute’s clinical expertise and data with Biogen’s focus on neurodegenerative disease and approach to clinical development.
Biogen chief scientific officer Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas said: "As we work to tackle some of the most difficult challenges in neurodegenerative disease, we are committed to working with the world’s best researchers and institutions.
"The Institute sees almost 2,500 Parkinson’s patients a year, has one of the largest repositories of patient information, and comprises leading clinicians in the Parkinson’s community.
"Combining their vast resources in PD and our capabilities in research and clinical development, we believe we can make important advances in understanding and ultimately discovering new treatment approaches for this devastating disease."
The multi-year collaboration will see discovery of gene targets and modifier genes that might serve as new therapeutic targets, development of well-defined patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), carry out a study of gastrointestinal symptoms related to PD as well as search for quantitative and symptom-based trial endpoints.
The collaborative effort will be improved by information from the institute’s Brain and Tissue Knowledge Bank, which includes patient biological samples, profiles, family health histories, and clinical outcomes.
Biogen will fund research activities carried out by the institute and provide strategic insight into research design, data analysis, and program support.