IXICO becomes imaging analysis partner within EPAD initiative

Brain health company IXICO plc has been selected as a partner within The European Prevention of Alzheimer’s dementia Initiative (EPAD), a novel collaboration between academic and private sectors to test innovative treatments for the secondary prevention of Alzheimer’s dementia.

Part of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a joint undertaking between the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, (EFPIA), EPAD will establish a European-wide register of 24,000 participants, of which 1,500 will be invited to participate in trials to test new treatments for prevention of Alzheimer’s dementia.

As part of this programme, IXICO will provide its TrialTracker™ platform to collect and manage imaging data in combination with its Assessa medical device to identify subjects who are most likely to benefit from treatment.

Professor Craig Ritchie, EPAD Co-coordinator and Professor of the Psychiatry of Ageing at the University of Edinburgh, said:

“EPAD is part of a global initiative that will make a fundamental difference to the understanding and management of Alzheimer’s disease in people with very early or no symptoms at all. This could be a game-changer. It is only possible because of the absolute commitment of academics, industry, policy makers and the public to work hand in hand to defeat this global threat.”

Jean Georges, Executive Director of Alzheimer Europe, added:

“Preventing the development of dementia in biomarker-positive people would be a fantastic step forward in our fight against Alzheimer’s disease. The EPAD and its novel trial concept will hopefully help speed up the drug discovery progress and bring us closer to this ambitious aim.”