On 10 and 11 October, the “Amyloid imaging to prevent Alzheimer’s disease” (AMYPAD) consortium gathered for its General Assembly meeting in Barcelona, Spain. The first day placed the emphasis squarely on the two AMYPAD sub-studies. A first session was dedicated to the Diagnostic and Patient Management Study (DPMS). As initially planned, eight European sites received the approval for the diagnostic study and are now active and running. The diagnostic study has reached the 50% recruitment mark with over 500 research participants recruited and over 300 amyloid PET scans performed. After that, a session was dedicated to the Prognostic and Natural History Study (PNHS). Five Wave-1 sites received approvals and are actively recruiting. In parallel, several Wave-2 sites have received approvals and have initiated their activation process. As of 14th October 2019, 548 subjects have been informed of which 310 consented. A total of 231 participants have been scanned so far.
Analysis of the data acquired in both studies has also started. The first and preliminary results were presented including the process for data harmonisation and request. A keynote lecture was then delivered on the Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline. Andrew Stephens gave a comprehensive overview of the recent clinical trial failures and agents currently being developed for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
On the second day, the AMYPAD consortium gathered for a scientific session giving the stage to nine AMYPAD researchers to showcase their work. It was a great opportunity to initiate collaborations between partners and to get input from delegates. There was also sessions on the AMYPAD budget, sustainability and ethics. Cindy Birck continued with a talk on the AMYPAD communications. AE contributes as co-lead to the communication and dissemination activities for the AMYPAD project. Before the wrap-up session, the new IMI NEURONET project was presented along with the opportunities for AMYPAD. Gill Farrar and Frederik Barkhof then recapitulated the meeting’s discussions after which the meeting ended. Executive Director Jean Georges and Project Officer Cindy Birck attended the meeting. The AMYPAD project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 115952. The Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA.
