Like no other illness, Alzheimer's disease attacks our identity and changes who we are. It erases our past and future, steals our memories, makes simple daily tasks impossible and turns our loved ones into strangers. It afflicts whole families as they watch a cherished part of their own lives fade away. It cuts lives short.
The world desperately needs an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
By 2050, more than 150 million people will have dementia.1 Hundreds of millions of caregivers and family members will be affected along with them, suffering emotionally, physically and financially.
But it won’t end there, because the impact of Alzheimer's reaches far beyond families. Until there are treatments that can slow, prevent or cure Alzheimer's, all of us will carry the burden for those who lose their independence prematurely. All of us will bear the rising burden of Alzheimer's care.
At Roche, we are proud to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about the disease, to help solve one of the biggest public health problems of our time.
Building on our long history of transforming scientific insights into life-changing medicines, our researchers are creating new technologies to learn more about how Alzheimer's disease begins and progresses. We are developing medicines that target the biology of Alzheimer's disease in multiple ways.
Our goal today is to change how the illness affects the brain – not just treat symptoms. Ultimately, we want to stop Alzheimer's in its tracks.
We are also using our unique expertise in diagnostics to develop new tests to detect Alzheimer's and provide earlier and more complete information to clinicians to assist with diagnosis.
This would help today’s patients receive better care and tomorrow’s patients receive effective treatments before they begin to lose their memory.
Our ambition is bold: to help solve one of the biggest public health problems of our time. But we know that science alone won’t be the solution.
Many changes need to occur, including how society funds research, how governments assess the value of innovative treatments and how we care for people with dementia.
We can only address all these challenges by working together with governments, academic researchers, industry peers, advocates, caregivers and patients themselves.
Together, we want to bring an end to the crisis of Alzheimer's.
History has made it clear that we cannot expect to cure a disease like Alzheimer's overnight.
In the near future, we will likely succeed in small steps rather than major leaps. However, even small steps will make a difference.
At Roche, we are determined to continue the fight, because it is our responsibility. Alzheimer's is too important to ignore.
References
World Health Organisation. Dementia. [Internet; cited 2019 Nov 13]. Available from:
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