The Drug Discovery Alliance is an ambitious multi-million dementia drug discovery initiative uniting three dedicated drug discovery institutes, all working to translate new findings from academic research into potential treatments for dementia.
The three Drug Discovery Institutes (DDIs) are based within University College London, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. They couple the biological expertise of academic collaborators with innovative drug discovery expertise to provide translational capability.
Each DDI houses dedicated biology and chemistry teams to evaluate promising new targets. They establish assays to evaluate targets, screen compound libraries, and improve hits into potent and selective lead molecules. These lead molecules provide tools for pharmacological proof of concept and provide the basis for the next generation of medicines to treat neurodegeneration.
The DDIs are reviewed annually by the Alzheimer's Research UK Drug Discovery Alliance Advisory Group (ADAG), a panel of drug discovery experts from both industry and academia, based in the UK and beyond.
Together, the Drug Discovery Institutes are exploring a wide range of disease mechanisms spanning the full spectrum of dementias.
ALBORADA Drug Discovery Institute(opens in new tab)
Housed in the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the Drug Discovery Institute builds collaborative projects across the University and beyond.
Oxford Drug Discovery Institute(opens in new tab)
Embedded within the Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, the Oxford Drug Discovery Institute is uniting collaborative efforts for target identification with sophisticated target development capabilities.
UCL Drug Discovery Institute(opens in new tab)
Located within the Cruciform Building, in the heart of UCL’s Bloomsbury Campus, the Drug Discovery Institute draws on a wealth of disease expertise to generate well validated targets and optimised leads.
To learn more about collaborating with the Drug Discovery Alliance, contact DDAenquiries@alzheimersresearchuk.org to kick-start discussions with the Chief Scientific Officers of all three institutes.
We encourage dialogue at any stage about potential collaborations.
- The breadth of expertise: each DDI has dedicated biology and chemistry teams to evaluate promising new targets. Collaborating with DDIs will open doors to access drug discovery knowledge and platforms, with the potential to work across the three DDIs.
- Funding opportunities: the DDIs are already funded, with opportunities to apply for further funding from industry and academia. Moreover, the DDIs are able to collaborate in academic grant applications as an academic co-applicant, avoiding the complications arising from introducing an industrial partner.
Case study
Notum and the blood brain barrier