WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--By Dr. Bill Chin:
A groundbreaking new partnership was announced earlier today by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP), an initiative of NIH, several non-profit disease foundations, 10 biopharmaceutical companies and PhRMA, aims to transform the current model for developing new diagnostics and treatments by joining forces to identify and validate promising biological targets of disease. In short, this is promising news for patients.
AMP represents a new, integrated approach to treatment discovery and seeks to increase the number of new diagnostics and therapies for patients while reducing the time and cost associated with their development. The initiative will begin with three to five-year pilot projects focused on three disease areas: Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes and autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Critically, AMP data and analyses will be publicly accessible to the biomedical community.
This collaboration comes at a time when public-private partnerships are increasing in number, but are still far from the norm. Together, the partners intend to show the strength of bringing multiple members of the scientific community together to solve significant public health challenges.
Last October, in an effort to catalyze progress in Alzheimer’s disease innovation and R&D, PhRMA, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, hosted an all-day forum – Alzheimer’s: The Puzzle, the Partners, the Path Forward. The event convened top industry and academic scientists, patients, policymakers, and other stakeholders to accelerate the impact of pre-competitive collaborative efforts and explore challenges in clinical trials recruitment unique to Alzheimer’s disease.
The result was a robust dialogue that shed light on the makeup and volume of public-private partnerships in the U.S. and abroad, highlighting the need for increased global collaboration among stakeholders and the challenges and opportunities surrounding the conduct of pre-symptomatic clinical trials. Target validation was among the promising opportunities in the pre-competitive space that were identified by panelists, and AMP represents an important step forward.
As we move forward with the AMP and other collaborative partnerships in our quest to improve and save the lives of patients, PhRMA remains committed to working across the scientific ecosystem. Each of us has such a vital role to play.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country’s leading innovative biopharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to discovering and developing medicines that enable patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. Since 2000, PhRMA member companies have invested approximately $550 billion in the search for new treatments and cures, including an estimated $48.5 billion in 2012 alone.
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For information on how innovative medicines save lives, visit: http://www.innovation.org
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