THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.,
Sept. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Novartis and Banner Alzheimer's
Institute (BAI), in association with Alzheimer's Disease
International (ADI), today announced results from the largest
global survey to date investigating perceptions of Alzheimer's
disease. Findings show that most adults (62 percent) are worried
they may develop Alzheimer's, while nearly the same proportion
believe it is likely a cure will be developed in their lifetime (60
percent).1 This World Alzheimer's Month, Amgen,
Novartis, BAI and ADI are raising awareness about how volunteers
can take part in clinical studies to benefit Alzheimer's research,
potentially themselves and future generations.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8004557-amgen-global-alzheimers-disease-awareness-survey/.
Alzheimer's is the leading cause of dementia, a disease
affecting 50 million people worldwide and projected to triple by
2050.2 The survey of more than 10,000 people across 10
countries revealed that 91 percent believe the solution to tackling
diseases lies in medical research, and 79 percent are willing to
participate.1 However, three-quarters (75 percent) have
no idea how to get involved in medical research.1 In
addition, 78 percent of adults are willing to get genetically
tested to identify their potential risk of developing
Alzheimer's.1
"At present, there is no cure and limited treatment options for
Alzheimer's, but this survey clearly shows that people are willing
to participate in research to help treat and to hopefully find a
cure," said Paola Barbarino, chief
executive officer at ADI. "We need to demystify and remove
awareness barriers to participation in medical research, making all
suitable candidates aware of how they can get involved."
Worldwide, more than 400 clinical studies are recruiting in
Alzheimer's.3 However, slow enrollment is a costly and
common obstacle that undermines medical research.4 There
is a need for more people to volunteer to advance scientific
discovery.
"The results from this survey clearly demonstrate the need to
raise awareness about clinical studies globally," said Pierre N. Tariot, M.D., director of BAI and
co-director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative (API). "Aside
from funding, the greatest challenge in finding a way to treat,
slow, or prevent Alzheimer's is the recruitment and retention of
study participants. Scientists are making great progress in the
fight against this disease, but an estimated 80 percent of studies
fail to meet recruitment goals on time, which delays critically
important research."
September 2018 marks the
7th World Alzheimer's Month and represents a chance for
people to raise awareness, fundraise and find out more about how
they can participate in research. In addition to the global survey
results, ADI will also launch their World Alzheimer Report 2018
entitled The state of the art of dementia research: new
frontiers, which looks at the hopes and aspirations, the
barriers and enablers to improving dementia research globally. More
information on the report can be found here
https://www.alz.co.uk/worldreport2018.
"Amgen, along with Novartis, Banner Alzheimer's Institute
and Alzheimer's Disease International, is committed to raising
awareness of how to enroll in Alzheimer's research to empower
patients and healthy volunteers," said David M. Reese, M.D.,
executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen.
"Alzheimer's research often does not get the attention and support
it deserves. These survey results illustrate the significant public
worry about developing Alzheimer's and reinforce the need to raise
greater awareness of how people can participate in clinical studies
to contribute to Alzheimer's research."
Amgen is currently enrolling volunteers for clinical trials in
Alzheimer's research. Additional information about clinical trials
is widely available online and from local patient advocacy groups.
Details of Alzheimer's clinical studies can be found on the ADI
website www.alz.co.uk/clinical-trials/find and the Alzheimer's
Prevention Registry www.endALZnow.org/. Studies can also be found
within the ClinicalTrials.gov study database,
https://clinicaltrials.gov, under the search criteria 'Recruiting'
and 'Alzheimer Disease'.
About the Survey
The survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of
Amgen, Novartis and BAI, among 10,095 adults 18+ living in
Argentina, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Spain, UK and the U.S. The survey
was conducted between July 25 and Aug. 21,
2018. Figures for age by gender, income, education,
race/ethnicity (Canada and U.S.
only), region, size of household, marital status, and employment
status were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with
their actual proportions in the population.
The API is an international collaborative research effort formed
to launch a new era of Alzheimer's prevention research. Led by the
BAI, the API conducts prevention trials in cognitively healthy
people at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease. It will
continue to establish the brain imaging, biological and cognitive
measurements needed to rapidly test promising prevention therapies
and provide registries to support enrollment in future prevention
trials. API is intended to provide the scientific means,
accelerated approval pathway with the cooperation of the regulatory
agencies and enrollment resources needed to evaluate the range of
promising Alzheimer's prevention therapies and find ones that work.
For more information, go to
www.alzheimerspreventioninitiative.com
About the Amgen and Novartis Neuroscience
Collaboration
In August 2015, Novartis entered into
a global collaboration with Amgen to develop and commercialize
pioneering treatments in the field of migraine and Alzheimer's
disease.
About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for
patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering,
developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human
therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced
human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and
understand the fundamentals of human biology.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages
its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes
and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer
since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading
independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of
patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines
with breakaway potential.
For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on
www.twitter.com/amgen.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are
based on the current expectations and beliefs of Amgen. All
statements, other than statements of historical fact, are
statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements,
including estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital
expenditures, cash, other financial metrics, expected legal,
arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or
practices, customer and prescriber patterns or practices,
reimbursement activities and outcomes and other such estimates and
results. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and
uncertainties, including those discussed below and more fully
described in the Securities and Exchange Commission reports filed
by Amgen, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and
any subsequent periodic reports on Form 10-Q and current reports
on Form 8-K. Unless otherwise noted, Amgen is providing this
information as of the date of this news release and does not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained in this document as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual
results may differ materially from those we project.
Discovery or identification of new product candidates or
development of new indications for existing products cannot be
guaranteed and movement from concept to product is uncertain;
consequently, there can be no guarantee that any particular product
candidate or development of a new indication for an existing
product will be successful and become a commercial product.
Further, preclinical results do not guarantee safe and effective
performance of product candidates in humans. The complexity of the
human body cannot be perfectly, or sometimes, even adequately
modeled by computer or cell culture systems or animal models. The
length of time that it takes for us to complete clinical trials and
obtain regulatory approval for product marketing has in the past
varied and we expect similar variability in the future. Even when
clinical trials are successful, regulatory authorities may question
the sufficiency for approval of the trial endpoints we have
selected. We develop product candidates internally and through
licensing collaborations, partnerships and joint ventures. Product
candidates that are derived from relationships may be subject to
disputes between the parties or may prove to be not as effective or
as safe as we may have believed at the time of entering into such
relationship. Also, we or others could identify safety, side
effects or manufacturing problems with our products, including our
devices, after they are on the market.
Our results may be affected by our ability to successfully
market both new and existing products domestically and
internationally, clinical and regulatory developments involving
current and future products, sales growth of recently launched
products, competition from other products including biosimilars,
difficulties or delays in manufacturing our products and global
economic conditions. In addition, sales of our products are
affected by pricing pressure, political and public scrutiny and
reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payers, including
governments, private insurance plans and managed care providers and
may be affected by regulatory, clinical and guideline developments
and domestic and international trends toward managed care and
healthcare cost containment. Furthermore, our research, testing,
pricing, marketing and other operations are subject to extensive
regulation by domestic and foreign government regulatory
authorities. Our business may be impacted by government
investigations, litigation and product liability claims. In
addition, our business may be impacted by the adoption of new tax
legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities. If we fail
to meet the compliance obligations in the corporate integrity
agreement between us and the U.S. government, we could become
subject to significant sanctions. Further, while we routinely
obtain patents for our products and technology, the protection
offered by our patents and patent applications may be challenged,
invalidated or circumvented by our competitors, or we may fail to
prevail in present and future intellectual property litigation. We
perform a substantial amount of our commercial manufacturing
activities at a few key facilities, including in Puerto Rico, and also depend on third parties
for a portion of our manufacturing activities, and limits on supply
may constrain sales of certain of our current products and product
candidate development. In addition, we compete with other companies
with respect to many of our marketed products as well as for the
discovery and development of new products. Further, some raw
materials, medical devices and component parts for our products are
supplied by sole third-party suppliers. Certain of our
distributors, customers and payers have substantial purchasing
leverage in their dealings with us. The discovery of significant
problems with a product similar to one of our products that
implicate an entire class of products could have a material adverse
effect on sales of the affected products and on our business and
results of operations. Our efforts to acquire other companies or
products and to integrate the operations of companies we have
acquired may not be successful. A breakdown, cyberattack or
information security breach could compromise the confidentiality,
integrity and availability of our systems and our data security. We
are increasingly dependent on information technology systems,
infrastructure and data security. Our stock price is volatile and
may be affected by a number of events. Our business performance
could affect or limit the ability of our Board of Directors to
declare a dividend or our ability to pay a dividend or repurchase
our common stock. We may not be able to access the capital and
credit markets on terms that are favorable to us, or at all.
CONTACT: Amgen, Thousand
Oaks
Andrea Fassacesia, 805-905-2575
(Media)
Kristen Neese, 805-313-8267
(Media)
Arvind Sood, 805-447-1060
(Investors)
References
1. Data on file. August 2018.
2. Dementia fact sheet December 2017;
World Health
Organisation: http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia
Accessed August 2018.
3. ClinicalTrials.gov:
//clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?recrs=ab&cond=Alzheimer+Disease&term=&cntry=&state=&city=&dist=.
Accessed August 2018.
4. Clin Transl Sci. 2015 Dec; 8(6): 647–654.
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SOURCE Amgen