JAX-NYSCF collaborates with GSK to advance human cellular models of neurodegenerative disease

The Jackson Laboratory–New York Stem Cell Foundation Collaborative (JAX-NYSCF) today announced a five-year strategic research collaboration with GSK focused on advancing human cellular models of neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer's disease.

The collaboration reflects a strategic focus that brings together human stem cell research, advanced data science tools, and large-scale research systems to help close a long-standing gap between scientific discovery and the development of new medicines. The goal is to generate disease-relevant cellular models that enable the scientific community to interrogate the underlying human biology of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and accelerate the translation of those insights into potential therapies.

"This collaboration is a concrete example of where early stage biomedical research is heading," said Lon Cardon, president and CEO of JAX, which recently expanded its discovery platform with the acquisition of NYSCF. "Now we have the opportunity to extend those discoveries -and accelerate therapies to patients-by bridging traditional disease models with next-generation patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models that more accurately capture the complexity of human biology at scale."

Building more predictive models of neurodegenerative diseases

By integrating GSK's deep knowledge of neurodegeneration, translational science and drug discovery with JAX-NYSCF's pioneering stem cell technology and expertise, access to relevant patient cohorts, and automation platform, the partners aim to build more predictive models of neurodegenerative diseases for identifying and prioritizing promising drug candidates.

Establishing a translational biology and scientific discovery collaboration with JAX-NYSCF complements the work we are doing at GSK on cellular models of disease, and offers the potential to yield new insights that may help accelerate therapeutic discovery for devastating neurodegenerative diseases, building on our established expertise in immunology and inflammation. By working together with JAX-NYSCF, we have an opportunity to develop more predictive models and ultimately, to use that better understanding to develop potential new medicines and determine which patients are most likely to benefit from new therapies."

Chris Austin, senior vice president and global head of Research Technologies at GSK