Pfizer has signed on to the Dementia Discovery Fund, a new research initiative which aims to boost investment to tackle dementia by bringing together major pharmaceutical companies, the UK government and Alzheimer’s Research UK. The goal of the Fund is to finance new, early stage drug development projects.

"As part of our ongoing commitment to advancing Neuroscience, Pfizer is proud to join the Dementia Discovery Fund and its efforts to accelerate the potential discovery of new therapies for devastating neurological diseases,” said Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., President of Worldwide Research and Development at Pfizer. “We are seeing important scientific momentum in advances that are helping us unravel the underlying molecular disease pathophysiology of dementia and other neurological conditions, and cross-sector collaboration is a critical success factor to deliver unique and transformative potential therapies for patients."

According to the World Health Organization, dementia affects more than 47 million people in the world at an estimated cost to the global economy of over $604 billion a year. Neuroscience research has been a particularly challenging area for significant advances in R&D. The brain is a complex organ. As such, the science required to deeply understand its function is daunting and difficult.

In keeping with other cross-sector collaborations in public health, Pfizer hopes to bring to the table its scientific, clinical and drug discovery and development expertise to advance potential treatments, faster. As of March 2, 2015, Pfizer’s pipeline in neuroscience and pain included 14 programs in Phase 1 and 2 as well as a number of preclinical programs. There are also five projects in late-stage development within the Global Innovative Pharma business.

Watch Michael D. Ehlers, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer’s Neuroscience and Pain Research Unit discussing how Pfizer is collaborating to advance innovation in neuroscience here.