Eisai Inc. announced it will launch the Eisai Center for Genetics Guided Dementia Discovery, which will harness the power of human genetics to develop next-generation medicines for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias. 

Guided by emerging insights from human genetics, coupled with Eisai’s recognized strengths in neuroscience and novel chemistry, the Center will specialize in immunodementia drug discovery. It will be located in a new, dedicated state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge, Mass. Eisai plans to commit over $100 million as an initial investment to establish the new discovery center over the first three years, and anticipates substantially increasing funding as its pipeline develops.

“By focusing on human genetics, our discovery labs have recently made rapid progress towards the next horizon of targeted immunodementia medicines. Recognizing this advancement, Eisai plans significant investment over the next 10 years in dedicated research funding to further accelerate human genetics-guided drug discovery at the new Eisai Center for Genetics Guided Dementia Discovery in Cambridge,” said Ivan Cheung, chairman and chief executive officer of Eisai Inc. “With this commitment to R&D, our robust pipeline and Eisai’s successful legacy in AD treatments, we believe we will be able to accelerate our efforts towards identifying the next-generation of dementia therapeutics to help millions of patients and their caregivers.”

The new 50,000-square-foot facility is being constructed in the Alewife Research Center in Cambridge, and is expected to be fully operational in early 2019. At that time, Eisai will close its current site in Andover, Mass., and transition operations to the new Center in Cambridge. Nadeem Sarwar, president of the Andover Innovative Medicines (AiM) Institute, will lead the new site. The Center will be organized around four key functions: data sciences, immunodementia, discovery technologies and precision chemistry.

The Cambridge biotech hub location has been strategically selected to enable Eisai to focus on and identify new scientific and business relationships for drug discovery, while providing the company with greater access and flexibility to foster its current collaborations with research institutes and strategic partners.