Research partnership aims to build strong pharma and academic collaborations in sharing data and clinical samples to develop biomarker-based diagnostics for Alzheimer’s Disease

PharmaKure, a clinical stage company developing precision medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, announces a research collaboration agreement with the Faculty of Pharmacy in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), one of the largest comprehensive universities in Malaysia. The partnership is focused on advancing research initiatives on the use of machine learning tools to predict Alzheimer’s Disease using blood via academic-industry partnerships.

The new relationship aims to translate clinical research from UiTM using PharmaKure’s novel whole blood testing and machine learning technology for identifying early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease to support the development of much needed diagnostic tests worldwide. Pharmakure recently announced asuccessful study for its proprietary ALZmetrix™ blood-based biomarker test, which together with its machine learning tools can predict which biomarkers are most useful in detecting people at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. A simple whole blood test such as ALZmetrix may offer an accurate and simple alternative to expensive and invasive PET brain imaging or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection.

"The UK has an ageing population, where 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s Disease. There is an urgent need to not only identify people who will develop this devasting disease, but also develop treatments. This agreement marks a significant milestone in establishing a research collaboration with UiTM, a leading academic institute, allowing us to partner with key experts and enhance our in-house expertise in the analysis of molecular signatures of disease biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Farid Khan, CEO of PharmaKure.

“Earlier and more accurate diagnostics for Alzheimer’s Disease are desperately needed if we are to prevent this devastating disease before profound memory loss takes hold,” said Professor Andrew Doig, Head of R&D at PharmaKure. “We are excited to be forming this relationship which will help us translate research from UiTM to further advance and commercialise diagnostic tests needed worldwide.”

Professor Dato’ Dr. Abu Bakar Abdul Majeed, Dean of Pharmacy Faculty in UiTM said, "Malaysia is expected to be an ageing nation by 2030, with almost half a million dementia patients predicted in 2050. That’s why this research partnership is important; we want to drive innovation and have societal impact both here and across the rest of the world. Alzheimer’s is a complex disease, by combining UiTM’s and PharmaKure’s biomarker, clinical and imaging data together with machine learning algorithms we will gain better understanding of how this disease develops and ultimately find ways to treat it.”

About Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a fatal illness that causes progressive decline in memory and other aspects of cognition. Dementia due to Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all cases. Every three seconds someone in the world develops dementia. 850,000 people (UK) and 44 million people (worldwide) are currently suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia related illnesses. In 2020, the total cost of care for people in the UK was £34.7 billion. Globally, the cost was $360 billion and by 2050 it could reach $1 trillion (source Alzheimer’s Research UK), unless we find a way to slow the disease.

About PharmaKure

PharmaKure is a UK based pharmaceutical company, spun out from the University of Manchester. The company is actively researching, developing, commercialising and repositioning repurposed drugs for treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as developing the ALZmetrix^TM diagnostic.

About Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) is the largest comprehensive university in Malaysia providing innovative education with state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology within reach at its 34 campuses, 4 colleges of studies, 14 faculties, and 9 academic centres all over the country. UiTM offers over 500 academic programmes at Foundation, Pre-Diploma, Diploma, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD levels.