Biogen and Lilly among firms to sign up to new dementia drug research programme

Biogen, Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson are among the pharmaceutical firms to sign up to a new dementia drug programme from Alzheimer's Research UK.

The charity has announced it will be investing $5 million (3.3 million pounds) over the next five years in a fund worth a total of $100 million in researching potential new treatments for the degenerative illness, which currently affects around 850,000 people in Britain.

Presently, there are no proven medicines to treat the disease, but in 2013, G7 leaders pledged their commitment to ensuring such drugs are available by 2025, with the World Health Organization this week discussing how these plans can move forward realistically.

In light of this, the charity has set up its new Dementia Discovery Fund, which is being supported by the UK government.

Head of policy at Alzheimer's Research UK Dr Matthew Norton said the project "will ensure some of the best minds in commercial drug discovery focus their efforts on dementia, widening the breadth of focus in the area and increasing our chances of success".