Turning existing drugs into dementia treatments
Dementia affects millions of people, yet effective treatments remain limited. In this project, 1NA Technologies and Leiden University form a public-private partnership to develop a new method for testing existing drugs that target gene regulation, enabling faster discovery of treatments for early-stage dementia.
In the Netherlands alone, around 290,000 people live with dementia, and this number is expected to double in the coming decades. The disease places a major burden on patients, families, and the healthcare system, with annual costs exceeding €13 billion. Current treatments only relieve symptoms and do not address the underlying causes of the disease. There is therefore an urgent need for innovative approaches that can accelerate the development of effective therapies.
This project introduces a novel technology that will allow to observe how drugs affect key processes inside cells at an extremely detailed level. By focusing on the mechanisms that control gene activity, processes that are often disrupted in dementia, we aim to identify drugs that can restore normal function. The approach combines advanced nanotechnology with biological expertise to test existing medicines, including drugs already used in cancer treatment, and evaluate whether they can be repurposed for dementia. This enables faster and more cost-effective drug development compared to traditional methods.
The project will deliver a validated testing platform for drug screening, a set of standardised experimental protocols, and a ranked list of promising drug candidates for further development. In addition, the project will provide insights into how these drugs work at a molecular level, supporting future research and paving the way for new treatment strategies for dementia.
