Business Wire

Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative, World Economic Forum Announce Major Milestones in the Global Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease

Share

The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) is a global multi-stakeholder partnership that is mobilizing the world against Alzheimer’s disease. DAC announced today it has nearly completed financing of its foundational phase and has launched several key initiatives to advance Alzheimer’s research, prevention and care to advance the fight against the disease.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210921005348/en/

A recent WHO report shows that Alzheimer’s and dementia impacted more than 55 million families worldwide and cost the global economy approximately US$1.3 trillion in 2019. This annual cost is expected to rise to $2.8 trillion by 2030, based on predicted increases in cases and the cost of care. By averaging these numbers to assume an approximate annual cost of $2 trillion through 2030, we estimate the disease will cost the global economy a cumulative $20 trillion over the next decade.

Due to rapid gains in global life expectancy, more than 70% of Alzheimer’s cases will be in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by 2050, inhibiting their prospects for growth and exacerbating health and economic disparities between LMICs and higher-income countries. By contrast, nearly 80% of genomic analysis has come from people of European descent, even though more than 80% of the global population is not of European descent.

New advances in treatment have accelerated investment and innovation in the space, building momentum for change and increasing the urgency for healthcare systems to be prepared for major changes in how they care for patients with the disease in the coming years.

“Now is the time to act on Alzheimer’s. International bodies including the WHO, G7, and G20 have all made commitments in recent years that recognize the need to act together, act globally and act now to address this health crisis,” said George Vradenburg, Chair of DAC. “DAC is a response to these calls for action, bringing the speed and scale that has too often been lacking in previous efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that a broad coalition of stakeholders working together can mobilize quickly to address a looming public health catastrophe. However, COVID-19 has also taught the world that we must have a robust preparedness plan – early and systematic testing and detection, timely access to real-world data, a standing, global, trial-ready system for developing and testing new therapies, and healthcare systems in high and low resource settings that are prepared to get the right intervention to the right patient at the right time. And, most importantly, we must include every nation and marshal every sector from the beginning to ensure a universal and equitable response.”

DAC is orchestrating an ambitious global effort to combat the Alzheimer’s crisis by linking, scaling and building on existing efforts across every sector. DAC is advancing this mission through several key initiatives, built on the scientific and business input of hundreds of experts in the space:

  • Global Cohorts: Working with the International One Hundred K+ Cohorts Consortium (IHCC) and other partners, DAC is building a cohort of one million people who reflect the disease in all its global diversity, with data available to researchers everywhere in order to marshal the world’s scientific and industrial talent to find new clues to stopping Alzheimer’s. In our first six months of operations, we have linked 12 cohorts spanning Africa, Asia and South America, with more than 20 additional cohorts under consideration. We have stress-tested this diverse combined cohort using our Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) Feasibility Pilot, a first-of-its-kind, transethnic and transracial analysis of genetic data from approximately 100,000 people with Alzheimer’s.
  • Clinical Trials: DAC is helping reduce the time and cost of clinical trials while improving their quality to accelerate the innovations that families and countries so desperately need. Working with the Global Alzheimer’s Platform, we are linking a network of 90 trial sites in North America with over a dozen European trial sites to accelerate key studies and implement novel trial designs, and we also are surveying site capacity across the rest of the world to extend future trials to other continents. We’re also designing a novel African clinical trial in Alzheimer’s disease and have secured a commitment from Roivant Social Ventures to make available an investigational new drug for use in this trial.
  • Healthcare System Preparedness: DAC is investing in healthcare systems to produce new learnings using new technologies and protocols to improve the clinical care of people with, or at risk of, Alzheimer’s. To date, we have secured healthcare system partners in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Scotland, Japan and Jamaica to pilot the use of blood biomarkers and technology-enabled methods in clinical practice, including earlier detection of Alzheimer’s disease. We also held our first “Learning Laboratory” of these flagship health systems to share their innovative practices with approximately 200 attendees from health systems and national health ministries, including representatives of seven governments from around the world. The World Health Organization has agreed to serve as a technical advisor on these efforts.

“Alzheimer’s disease recognizes no boundaries. Yet too often our response is fragmented — leaving patients, families and researchers to face this burden alone, especially in low- and middle-income countries,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Emeritus WHO Director General and Founding Dean of the Tsinghua Vanke School of Public Health. “The work of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, and its commitment to lead a new fight through new public-private partnerships, will help save countless lives and trillions of dollars lost to Alzheimer’s each year.”

Business Updates

In addition to these initiatives, DAC has achieved several business milestones that will lay the foundation for our continued work to eliminate the burden of Alzheimer’s.

DAC is now headquartered in Switzerland, with IRS 501c3 affiliate status in the U.S. We are also completing our foundational phase fund-raise with $25 million in commitments to advance our projects, in addition to invaluable contributions of time and talent, from supporters including Eli Lilly & Company, Roche, Biogen, Eisai, Otsuka, C2N, Cognivue, Linus Health and Cogstate.

“The progress made by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative since its launch in January signals the urgent need for a collective global response to the growing public health crises of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. “Following in the footsteps of initiatives incubated at the World Economic Forum, such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is bringing new cooperative energy and global vision to the fight against this disease that brings suffering to hundreds of millions of people, families and caregivers around the world.”

DAC’s founding Board members will guide the collaborative toward its 2022 priorities and beyond. A full list of DAC leadership group members is available here.

“DAC is bringing together the best minds to improve the speed and scale of the scientific fight against Alzheimer’s,” said Elias Zerhouni, Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University; Former Director, National Institutes of Health and Former President of R&D, Sanofi. “We’ve built a plan of action informed by experts in Alzheimer’s disease, data science and digital technologies, and we are pleased to start executing it through these initiatives.”

DAC intends to announce further progress toward these goals during the Lausanne VIII Workshop in November 2021 and the World Economic Forum annual meeting in January 2022.

About the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative

Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 meeting on The Davos Agenda, The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to aligning stakeholders with a new vision for our collective global response against the challenges Alzheimer’s presents to patients, caregivers and healthcare infrastructures. Convened by The World Economic Forum and The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi) and fueled by a mission of service to the estimated 150 million families and half a billion people inevitably impacted by this disease by 2050, DAC is a collaborative for the benefit of all people, in all places.

Note to Editors

Additional quotes from DAC’s leadership and partners are attached.

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Contact information

Media Contact: Katie Hatcher, KHatcher@webershandwick.com

About Business Wire

For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

SCENTMATIC's AI "KAORIUM" Debuts at THAMEEN Fragrance Launch in London's Selfridges4.7.2025 12:13:00 EEST | Press release

SCENTMATIC Inc., a leader in scent digitalization, introduced its AI-powered scent-to-language system, KAORIUM, at the THAMEEN Fragrance new product launch event. This pivotal event took place from June 5 to 11, 2025, at Selfridges department store in London, UK. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250703662207/en/ State of exhibition Global Expansion: KAORIUM Establishes UK Presence Europe leads the global fragrance market, with the UK projected to reach US$2.82 billion by 2033. Recognizing this, SCENTMATIC is rapidly expanding its international footprint. In May 2024, SCENTMATIC established its overseas subsidiary, KAORIUM, in London, appointing industry expert Ben Yanoushek as CEO. Official UK operations commenced on February 1, 2025, with the launch of its dedicated website: www.kaorium.com. KAORIUM Trialed at "Florentine Diamond" Launch Event The "Florentine Diamond" launch event for luxury brand THAMEEN Frag

Global Tourism Surging Ahead of Economic Growth, With Visits to Hit 30 Billion by 20344.7.2025 02:00:00 EEST | Press release

The World Economic Forum has today published a new report forecasting that the travel and tourism industry is projected to serve 30 billion tourist trips by 2034. Travel and Tourism at a Turning Point: Principles for Transformative Growth, produced in collaboration with Kearney and the Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia, reveals a projected $16 trillion contribution to global GDP by the same year—representing more than 11% of the total world economy, according to World Travel & Tourism Council estimates. The report also found that the sector is expanding 1.5 times faster than the global economy, generating significant commercial opportunities as long as the mounting challenges of climate change, labour shortages and infrastructure gaps are addressed. Inbound and outbound trips increasing fast Asia is on track to become the world’s fastest-growing tourism economy, with the direct travel and tourism GDP contribution expected to exceed 7% across the region by 2034. Notably, India and China

The 2025-2026 World Branding Awards Animalis Edition Honouring Leading Pet and Animal Brands Globally3.7.2025 22:00:00 EEST | Press release

The 2025-2026 World Branding Awards Animalis Edition marked its fifth instalment, bringing together leading pet and animal brands from all around the world. These brands were celebrated for their outstanding achievements, earning recognition as National, Regional, and Global Winners. The awards ceremony, held at Vienna's prestigious Hofburg Palace, welcomed winners across diverse categories, including pet food, retail, wellness, pet exhibitions, and aquatic products. Mounia Berrada-Gouzi expertly hosted the evening, which culminated in a grand celebration of brand excellence. “The Animalis Edition of the World Branding Awards recognises brands that have achieved the highest distinction—genuine recognition in the hearts and minds of consumers. Tonight, we honour those whose names resonate globally, whose values inspire loyalty, and whose presence defines excellence in the pet and animal industry,” said Richard Rowles, Chairman of the World Branding Forum. Out of over 950 brands nominate

Venture Global Announces 20-Year Sales and Purchase Agreement with PETRONAS3.7.2025 15:59:00 EEST | Press release

Today, Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE: VG) announced the execution of a new 20-year Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with PETRONAS LNG Ltd. (PLL), a subsidiary of the Malaysian state-owned oil and gas company, PETRONAS. Under the terms of the SPA, PETRONAS will purchase 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Venture Global’s third facility, CP2 LNG, for 20 years. This builds upon Venture Global’s existing agreement with PETRONAS for 1 MTPA of LNG supply from Plaquemines LNG. PETRONAS, a world-class partner in the LNG industry, joins other CP2 LNG customers in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world in a strategically important project to global energy supply and security. To date, approximately 10.75 MTPA of the 14.4 MTPA nameplate capacity for CP2 Phase One has been sold. About Venture Global Venture Global is a long-term, low-cost provider of U.S. LNG sourced from resource rich North American natural gas basins. Venture Global’s business includes assets ac

Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Novotech as 2025 Global Biotech CRO Company of the Year3.7.2025 15:05:00 EEST | Press release

In recognition of its innovation, client-focused delivery, and global impact, Novotech has been awarded the 2025 Global Biotechnology Contract Research Organization (CRO) Company of the Year by Frost & Sullivan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250703950144/en/ Novotech Wins Global CRO Award Novotech is a globally recognized full-service clinical CRO and scientific advisory firm, trusted by biotech and small- to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies to advance their drug development programs at every phase. With a global footprint spanning Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe, Novotech supports over 5,000 clinical trial sites and a distributed team of experts delivering seamless, end-to-end solutions across geographies. “Novotech is redefining biotech-focused clinical research through AI-driven innovation, global expansion, and a client-embedded partnership model. With a clear vision to be the CRO of choice for

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye