Business Finland has awarded New Business from Research Ideas funding to a project led by Professor Tarja Malm at the University of Eastern Finland. The project seeks to develop a novel treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The goal of the R2therapies project is to turn an innovation discovered by Malm’s research group into a new business. The overall funding of the two-year project amounts to 654,791 euros.
Alzheimer's disease, AD, is the most common dementia-causing disease, leading to the loss of memory and cognitive function. In the U.S. alone, the effect of the disease on the national economy was estimated at 200 billion dollars in 2012. In Finland, more than 70,000 patients are diagnosed with AD. Alzheimer’s disease causes significant burden on national economies and tremendous human suffering for patients and their families. The prevalence of AD is growing as the population ages. This trend is expected to continue, and AD is turning in to a major socio-economic challenge.
The pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease remains unknown, and no cure for the disease exists. The project funded by Business Finland is based on a novel disease mechanism discovered by Malm’s research group, which could provide insight into the factors causing AD. The goal of the project is to create new business activities geared towards the discovery of a drug that could slow down or even stop the progression of AD.
“Funding targeted at the planning of business activities constitutes a key step in the innovation process in order for scientifically significant discoveries to gain societal impact. Academic funding is well suited for research that leads to new insight into disease mechanisms. However, in order to introduce innovations to drug development and to eventually develop treatments that can help patients, funding instruments such as Business Finland’s New Business from Research Ideas are needed. It is very rewarding for us researchers to see our work implemented in practice in such a significant way,” Tarja Malm, the project's PI, notes.
“The project serves as a platform where the university's high standard of research and innovative research findings can meet with the exceptionally great interest in them expressed even by large, multinational pharmaceutical companies. The project is supported by a network of strong commercial players, which enables the creation of strategic partnerships for new business activities in Finland, while also enhancing the Kuopio Health innovation ecosystem,” Matti Höytö from the university's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Services says.
For further information, please contact:
Professor Tarja Malm, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, tel. +358 40 355 2209, tarja.malm (a) uef.fi
