Neuroimmunology: Potential for Novel Therapeutics for CNS Disorders

External Event - 30th Jun 2021

Time - 14:00PM-16:30PM BST

On 30 June 2021, Johnson & Johnson Innovation will host a virtual scientific event on state-of-the-art developments in neuroimmunology, bringing together entrepreneurs, start-ups, researchers, and scientists from across Europe and beyond.

The successes of therapeutics targeting inflammatory mechanisms in relapsing and remitting multiple sclerosis have led to neuroimmunology emerging as an important new paradigm in central nervous system (CNS) disorders. In neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, human disease genetics strongly implicate several inflammatory pathways such as microglial signaling and complement. Moreover, recent research implicates inflammation in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and major depressive disorder.

The field holds great promise for the development of impactful novel therapeutics to treat several CNS disorders of high unmet medical need. Current challenges focus on generating robust therapeutic hypotheses for neuroinflammatory disorders, patient stratification and drug discovery challenges to develop safe CNS penetrant molecules. However, new data emerging from advanced genomics and big data analytics is helping the field better understand the challenges and navigate the roles of various inflammatory processes in several CNS indications. This research is bolstered by exciting findings from human cell and preclinical transgenic models, enabling further detailed understanding of disease biology.

While past pharmaceutical company investment has been thwarted by the complexities of CNS disorders, a vibrant investor environment is now supporting exciting new companies with drug discovery programmes for a range of neuroimmunology targets. Given the advances in this field, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, in collaboration with Janssen Neuroscience, is seeking to gather industry-leading entrepreneurs, biotechs and academic researchers for a discussion on harnessing the next wave of science and innovation in neuroimmunology.

For further information and to register, click here.