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Research carried out by Professor David Smith of the University of Oxford established that B vitamins could slow the rate of Alzheimer-related brain atrophy and cognitive decline in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an early stage of Alzheimer's disease which is common in the elderly. Since 2008 the impact on sales and marketing of B vitamins worldwide has been significant; [text removed for publication], and over-the-counter and prescription B vitamin products marketed as helping to maintain memory function have achieved sales worth many millions of US dollars. Some doctors now prescribe B vitamins for the group of MCI patients identified by Smith as being most at risk.
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is one of the most common subtypes of dementia. Although DLB shares characteristics with Alzheimer's disease, the condition requires specific treatment and care. New diagnostic criteria generated at Newcastle allow diagnosis of DLB as a distinct condition from Alzheimer's, and these criteria have been incorporated into five national and international guidelines. The work also resulted in an accurate and sensitive diagnostic technique, commercialised by GE Healthcare as the DaTSCAN imaging tool, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. These new diagnostic criteria allow appropriate treatment and management of DLB for the first time.
Psynova Neurotech is a prize-winning spin-out company founded by Professors Sabine Bahn and Chris Lowe from the University of Cambridge. It focuses on the commercialization of novel blood-based biomarker tests for conditions like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. Psynova and its partner company Rules Based Medicine (now Myriad RBM Inc.) launched the first commercially available Aid for the Diagnosis of Schizophrenia (VeriPsychTM) in 2010. In June 2011, Psynova and Rules Based Medicine were acquired by Myriad Genetics Inc. for £50 million. In February 2011 Psynova Neurotech and Professor Bahn were announced winner of the ACES best European Life Science spin-out award.
Dementia is one of the greatest problems facing society today, both in financial terms and in terms of the quality of life of patients and caregivers. Newcastle research identified that cholinesterase inhibitors (CHEIs), originally licenced for use in Alzheimer's disease, would be of greater benefit in two other types of dementia; Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's disease. CHEIs are now recommended in national and international guidelines as a treatment for the cognitive and psychiatric symptoms associated with both of these conditions, which previously had no effective treatment. CHEIs are also licenced worldwide for use in Parkinson's dementia, and are used off- licence across the world as a first-line treatment for dementia with Lewy bodies.
Based on his research at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Professor Paul Burgess invented and co-invented several cognitive tests (known as the Hayling and Brixton Tests, and the BADS and BADS-C assessment batteries) which are used to detect dysfunction of the frontal lobes of the brain. These were developed for commercial production by Burgess and are now produced and marketed by the largest test publisher in the world (Pearson Assessment). There are versions in several different languages, and they are used in clinics worldwide to diagnose problems in a wide variety of patients with neurological, psychiatric and developmental problems. The tests are now administered around the world to around 55,000 patients per year.
Research by a team at Southampton into amyloid beta protein (A03b2) immunisation to treat Alzheimer's disease has been key to changing the way the global medical community understands and reacts to the disease. The first to observe that A03b2 immunisation clears A03b2 plaques, the team's studies were pivotal in initiating and informing the safe clinical trial development of 40 immunotherapy agents; investments of $3bn by the pharmaceutical industry; and 30 phase II and phase III studies. The research shaped US government policy on new safety measures for clinical trials and played a leading role in the doubling of UK funding to tackle Alzheimer's.
Newcastle research on dementia contributed two aspects that helped to shape high-level policy: first that prevalence of the condition was higher than previously suspected, with implications for care of the ageing UK population. Secondly, that patients often experienced long delays before a diagnosis of dementia was given, leading to distress both for patients and their families. This research informed policy documents such as the Prime Minister's 2012 Challenge on dementia and national guidance in the form of commissioning packs. Patients benefit from more timely diagnosis with a better understanding of their needs and wishes and the NHS benefits through potential reductions in long term care costs.
In 2009 Tim Bussey and Lisa Saksida commercialised novel apparatus and control software for computer-automated behavioural testing of rats and mice, reducing the time and user-hours required to generate data; and yielding improved performance levels and opportunities for translation whilst also reducing variability. The apparatus is sold with a battery of purpose-designed cognitive tests that parallel those used to assess cognition in patients (e.g., CANTAB). This has had impact as follows: (1) sales: over 400 units; (2) preclinical research: because of its potential for translation of the tasks, the apparatus is influencing how pharmaceutical companies conduct CNS research; (3) spinoff industry: contract research organisations now include touchscreen-based cognitive assays in their services.
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is an evidence-based, brief, group therapy for people with mild to moderate dementia. It was developed and evaluated by UCL in collaboration with Bangor University. Our research showed significant benefits in cognition and quality of life plus cost-effectiveness. Cognitive Stimulation for people with mild/moderate dementia of all types is recommended by NICE and is now in widespread use across the UK and the rest of the world in a variety of settings including care homes, hospitals and the community. A recent audit by the Memory Services National Accreditation Programme reported that 66% of UK memory clinics surveyed were using CST.
Bio-inspired computer algorithms, developed by Dr Stephen Smith at the University of York, have been integrated with commercially available hardware that analyse patients' movements to diagnose and monitor a range of neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Clinical studies undertaken in the UK and USA report a diagnostic accuracy exceeding 90% - a 15% improvement on current clinical practice. A new spinout company, ClearSky Medical Diagnostics Ltd, has licenced four products exploiting this technology to nine health centres in the UK, USA, Singapore, Australia and UAE, transforming clinical testing with improved diagnosis and monitoring of patients in hospitals and their own homes.