Industry Engagement & Partnership
The Industry Workstream aims to strengthen industry – academic collaboration through liaison forums, partnerships, and engagement initiatives to align priorities, enhance communication, and improve the environment for dementia trial delivery.
By working together with UKDTN sites, we want to make the UK a ‘go-to’ place for early phase dementia clinical trials.
Biotech and Pharma
Partners in drug/trial delivery
Industry Engagement & Partnership Overview
UKDTN is claiming the space as a global leader in early-phase dementia trials. Our focus is clear: right trial, right site, right patient, right time. With more than 30 affiliate sites, 3 pilot sites, and 8 member sites (and growing), we are building a robust infrastructure to deliver innovative trials efficiently. This includes direct resource allocation, capacity-building funds, and harmonized processes that simplify trial setup and accelerate delivery.
UKDTN delivers a coordinated national network for early-phase dementia trials, with a focus on Phase I studies and a wider, scalable Phase II trial network. We work closely with industry partners to provide real-time feedback, build strong collaborative relationships and showcase the strengths of the UK clinical trials ecosystem. This approach supports faster, more efficient trial set-up and delivery while strengthening the UK’s position as a global leader in early-phase dementia research.
Trial Delivery
Trials are delivered through UKDTN sites, supported by the Coordinating Centre. We strengthen systems through the standardisation of contracts, costings and standard operating procedures (SOPs), enabling consistent, high-quality delivery across the network.
Our streamlined approach is transforming trial timelines. By harmonizing ethics approvals, costings, and feasibility assessments, we have achieved unprecedented speed.
The first trial launched across UKDTN pilot sites was a Phase 1b anti-tau antisense oligonucleotide study in mild Alzheimer’s disease, sponsored by Eli Lilly. UKDTN dosed the first patient in Europe, with coordinated delivery across three sites accelerating set-up through streamlined feasibility, costing, and contracting. The sponsor commended UKDTN’s communication, regional collaboration, and responsiveness. Keeping the momentum, in the second UKDTN-led trial we subsequently achieved global first-patient-in.
Since then, UKDTN has rapidly expanded its early-phase dementia portfolio, with three Phase 1b gene-silencing trials now in set-up or delivery and further studies in advanced discussion, spanning first-in-human to later-phase development.
Example of enhancing processes in early-phase trials to drive success in later phases
- All 10 UK sites activated within 56 working days
- First site activated in Europe
- First Patient In (FPI) in Europe and third globally, achieved just two days after Canada
At UCLH, contract signature to site activation was achieved in 27 days, compared with 50 days pre-UKDTN, while REC/IRB approval to study activation was completed in 44 days versus 187 days before UKDTN.
These milestones demonstrate how improvements in early-phase processes pull through to later-phase trials, setting a new standard for efficiency.
UKDTN-Industry Embedding Patient Voice in Dementia Trials
UKDTN worked closely with Roche on the TRONTIER 1 and TRONTIER 2 trials to ensure that patient voices were central to trial design and delivery. This collaboration focused on embedding meaningful patient insight through the development and implementation of structured entry and exit interviews, co-designed to reflect the priorities, concerns, and experiences identified in the Alzheimer’s Society/UKDTN patient survey. By aligning these interviews with real-world patient and carer feedback, the partnership enabled a deeper understanding of participant motivations, expectations, and trial experiences, helping to shape a more person-centred approach to clinical research and ensuring that the needs of people affected by dementia remained at the heart of both trials.
Added Value and Innovation
Through a focus on experimental medicine and innovation, UKDTN provides a strong bridge between early-stage discovery and Phase III clinical development.
UKDTN is not just about speed—it’s about advancing science. We are pioneering mechanistic trials and novel methodologies such as Stable Isotope Labelling Kinetics (SILK) to measure real-time changes in protein dynamics. Our collaborations with industry and academia (e.g., Novartis, UCL, Wash U) are driving innovation in dosing models and biomarker development, ensuring trials deliver meaningful insights.
UKDTN is strengthening strategic partnerships with industry to accelerate the development of new dementia therapies. Through UKDTN sponsorship, UCL’s Translational Research Office is working directly with industry partners to map the future therapeutic pipeline and identify opportunities to accelerate translation from discovery to patient impact. This work is aligned with the Office for Life Sciences–funded Dementia Goals Programme, which provides essential market and policy intelligence to inform strategic direction. UKDTN also works closely with the Neurodegeneration Initiative and leading charity partners to develop a comprehensive view of emerging priorities across the dementia research ecosystem. Building on the interim report, UKDTN is now deepening key industry relationships and developing a detailed understanding of stakeholder pipelines and priorities, ensuring resources are targeted effectively and high-value collaborations are enabled in alignment with commercial, patient, and charity priorities.
Our role as industry partners includes:
- Advising on trial design, site, and CRO selection
- Supporting mechanistic studies and recruitment strategies
- Providing candid, reliable insights into the UK trial landscape
Industry Liaison Forum
UKDTN actively convenes industry and research leaders to accelerate progress in dementia drug development.
Through a coordinated programme of Industry Liaison Forums at major international meetings—including CTAD and AAIC—UKDTN engages industry partners using complementary strategies: solution-focused working sessions to shape early trial design and delivery (CTAD 2024), invite-only strategic roundtables to co-develop evidence-based recommendations on priority challenges such as diversity and inclusion (AAIC 2025), and high-level convening on behalf of the UK ecosystem to align global stakeholders around shared commitments, capabilities and delivery strengths (CTAD 2025).
