Incidences of neurodegenerative diseases are increasing due to demographic change and the increasing age of the population in Europe. It is estimated that by 2040, 14 million Europeans will be affected by Alzheimer’s disease, costing about €140 billion in care each year.
In Ireland, more than 44,000 people are affected by Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The challenge of diagnosing, treating and caring for people affected by these diseases is daunting and no European country alone has the expertise, or resources, necessary to tackle all of the big questions in this area.
EU research and innovation programmes in neurodegenerative diseases are addressing this challenge by funding researchers to develop better diagnostics, more effective therapies and new models of care.
Horizon 2020 is the EU’s seven-year programme to support research, innovation and science. Support for research into diseases characterised by dementia is one of the priority areas for the programme that aims to improve the lives of Europeans.
Horizon 2020 encourages the best international research and innovation teams to come up with solutions for this health challenge. The 2014-15 work programme will invest about €1.2 billion in health, including in the following areas:
To improve our understanding of the causes underlying healthy ageing and disease;
To enhance our ability to monitor health and to prevent, detect, treat and manage disease;
To support older people to remain active and healthy;
To test and demonstrate new models and tools for health and care delivery.
In addition to looking forward, it is also useful to consider some of the concrete examples of how the EU is already driving cutting edge research in the health field by using the range of instruments, initiatives and partnerships at our disposal.
The EU is supporting the €75 million Joint Programming Initiative on Neurodegenerative Disease Research. The initiative, led by member states, aims to increase the impact of European research in this area by co-ordinating research investment and strategies between participating countries.
The initiative aims to find causes, develop cures and improve care structures for those with neurodegenerative diseases. Ireland is one of 26 countries participating in this programme.
Partnership
EU funding also supports the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), the world's largest and most ambitious health research public-private partnership. IMI brings together companies, universities, public laboratories, innovative small and medium businesses, patient groups and regulators to pave the way for the next generation of diagnostics, vaccines and treatments.
Brain research has benefited directly from this support in the area of Alzheimer’s disease.
Last December IMI published a call to set up a public-private project known as the European Platform to Facilitate Proof of Concept for Prevention in Alzheimer’s Disease, which should advance our ability to understand and prevent the disease in the future. Neurodegenerative diseases will also be addressed by the future Innovative Medicines Initiative 2, which is to be launched in July.
The Active and Assisted Living Programme supports market-oriented research and SMEs to improve the quality of life of older people through information and communication technologies.
It works in tandem with the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing to ensure that not only are new solutions discovered, but that best practices are shared and scaled up.
The Human Brain Project is a large-scale European research initiative, the goal of which is to help us understand the human brain and its diseases and ultimately to emulate its computational capabilities.
With a planned investment of €1 billion – €500 million from EU funds and €500 million foreseen from national and regional funds – over the next 10 years, the aim is to reconstruct the brain through supercomputer-based models and simulations.
This will greatly enhance our knowledge and help to protect brain health and improve patient care.
Under the previous European research funding programme, FP7, €555 million in funding was provided to 299 research projects associated with dementia. Examples of EU funded projects with Irish participation include: a €6 million project to test the efficacy and safety of a potential new treatment, nilvadipine, in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
If successful, this would represent an advance in the treatment of Alzheimer's patients and would have a major impact on the health and social care costs incurred in Europe as a result of this neurodegenerative disorder.
Risk factors
The Nilvad project is led by Trinity College Dublin and involves UCD, UCC, Molecular Medicine Ireland and St James's Hospital as well as European and international partners.
Cardiovascular health and fitness, weight, sleep and mood are all modifiable risk factors for dementia. IN-MINDD is a three-year, €3 million project that will develop online tools that can be used by doctors to determine the dementia risk of individual patients in midlife and develop personalised strategies to reduce their risk.
This project is co-ordinated by DCU and involves a Dublin-based micro-enterprise, Pintail.
At present there is no test to screen for Alzheimer's disease. The €5.4 million, three-year LANIR project aims to develop a nanoscope to allow the screening of patient cells for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, and is led by the University of Limerick with a team of European partners including Limerick-based business, NT-MDT Ireland.
Health research is a genuine societal concern for Europe. However, it is also a global endeavour. That is why the EU is teaming up with other countries worldwide so as to solve common health challenges such as rare diseases, global pandemics and chronic illnesses.
Much progress has been made to combat Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. By working together and by utilising pan-European projects such as Horizon 2020, much more progress can be achieved in the coming years.
That is why I am urging the Irish research community to join forces with other researchers across Europe and from around the world to work together on neurodegenerative diseases research through ever-closer partnerships.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is the European commissioner for research, innovation and science
