Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

A call for a global ‘bigger’ data approach to Alzheimer disease

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 18, pages 319–320 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Clinical trials for Alzheimer disease drugs have an exceptionally high failure rate, discouraging investment in the field despite the unmet medical need. Drug developers need to more effectively harness existing and emerging data and digital technologies to improve the likelihood of success.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Cummings, J., Morstorf, T. & Zhong, K. Alzheimer’s disease drug-development pipeline: few candidates, frequent failures. Alzheimers Res. Ther. 6, 37 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhang, R., Simon, G. & Yu, F. Advancing Alzheimer’s research: a review of big data promises. Int. J. Med. Inform. 106, 48–56 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Khozin, S., Pazdur, R. & Shah, A. INFORMED: an incubator at the US FDA for driving innovations in data science and agile technology. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2018.34 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Kulmala, J., Ngandu, T. & Kivipelto, M. Prevention matters: time for global action and effective implementation. J. Alzheimers Dis. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-179919 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bourla, A., Ferreri, F., Ogorzelec, L., Guinchard, C. & Mouchabac, S. Assessment of mood disorders by passive data gathering: the concept of digital phenotype versus psychiatrist’s professional culture. Encephale 44, 168–175 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Datavant Inc., San Franciso, CA, USA

    Eric Perakslis

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Eric Perakslis

  3. Worldwide Clinical Trials Medical and Scientific Affairs Morrisville, NC, USA

    Henry Riordan

  4. Roivant Sciences Inc., New York, NY, USA

    Lawrence Friedhoff

  5. Takeda Research & Development, Deerfield, IL, USA

    Azmi Nabulsi

  6. Neuroscience Therapeutic Area, Takeda Research & Development, Zurich, Switzerland

    Emilio Merlo Pich

Authors
  1. Eric Perakslis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Henry Riordan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lawrence Friedhoff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Azmi Nabulsi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Emilio Merlo Pich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric Perakslis.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Related links

AETIONOMY: https://www.aetionomy.eu/en/vision.html

CancerLinQ: https://cancerlinq.org/

EPAD: http://ep-ad.org/

Pragmatic Trials of Managing Multimorbidity in Alzheimer’s Disease: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AG-18-028.html

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Perakslis, E., Riordan, H., Friedhoff, L. et al. A call for a global ‘bigger’ data approach to Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Drug Discov 18, 319–320 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2018.86

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2018.86

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research