Our Partners
We don't work in isolation – never have, never will. We partner with dozens of scientific collaborators to advance our mission to end ALS. We also enter into strategic funding alliances with foundations and nonprofits from across the spectrum of neurodegeneration.
Internal Project Partnership Strategy
Using proprietary genomic and proteomic data collected by the Institute and leveraged against the published literature, we have identified several highly relevant disease associated molecular targets. Our current pipeline contains 30 programs targeting these various aspects of neurodegenerative disease pathology. Our team of 30 industry-trained scientists is advancing these projects through the preclinical pipeline at our state-of-the-art, 15,000 square-foot research center in Cambridge's Kendall Square. We are currently seeking partners interested in making strategic investments in projects currently in our pipeline or translating late-stage projects from ALS TDI toward the clinic. TDI develops appropriate intellectual property protection on several molecules each year following the development of supporting data. Each of these molecules represents a potentially important and lucrative opportunity for patients and corporations alike.
External Project Partnership Opportunities
We have developed a continuum of partnership models to support the advancement and translation of potentially life changing therapeutics into the clinic and ultimately the marketplace. As the world's leading preclinical research center for ALS, we work with pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations, academic leaders, and start-ups. In 2011, TDI had six contract research agreements with the largest global drug development companies and 12 collaborations with universities and other corporations. Our partners receive world-class support and access to our research team and infrastructure. We are eager to work with others that share our mission to reduce the time and cost it takes to develop life saving medicine for patients today.
Want to partner with us?
If you would like to explore a potential collaboration with ALS TDI or if you are a representative of a university or company interested in ALS learning more about our current pipeline, please contact our Business Development and Venture Team.
What a few of our current collaborators say about TDI:
The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced on March 3, 2011 that it has extended its research partnership with the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) through its flagship ALS fundraising initiative, Augie's Quest. Augie's Quest is led by its Chief Inspiration Officer, Augie Nieto, a well known fitness pioneer diagnosed in 2005 with ALS. Nieto has raised and invested $22 million since 2007 into ALS TDI. This crucial funding has led to a number of potential therapeutics being identified and developed by ALS TDI, including its lead candidate known as ALS TDI 00846.
On March 22, 2011 the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) and the MDA announced that they were collaborating with ALS TDI to jointly fund the characterization of a new model of neurodegeneration called the TDP-43 mouse. TDP-43 mutations have been associated with many neurodegenerative disorders. Each partner supplied significant funding to the nine month and $1 million project.
Aestus Therapeutics, Inc., has a multi-year collaboration to test several potential small-molecule compounds to slow or stop the progression of ALS. An innovative translational medicine company, Aestus has used their complex, proprietary biological data mining techniques to identify therapeutics for screening against targets associated with ALS disease onset or progression. All screening will be conducted at ALS TDI.