Dementia Trials Accelerator welcomes first participants into clinics

The Dementia Trials Accelerator has welcomed its first participants into clinics, a key milestone in boosting recruitment to dementia clinical trials.

The accelerator, led by Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), aims to address under-recruitment to clinical trials, one of the biggest barriers to progress in dementia research.

In some cases, it can take up to three years to recruit enough participants to run an 18-month dementia trial – while the average cancer trial takes 2.3 years from start to completion, including the recruitment phase.

More than 15,500 participants aged 65-75 years old from REACT, a cohort study led by Imperial College London involving 2.7 million adults, have been invited to the first clinics run by the Dementia Trials Accelerator’s delivery partner, Inuvi.

Professor Andrew Morris, director of HDR UK, said: “For too long, dementia trials have been held back by the difficulty of enrolling enough participants.

“The Dementia Trials Accelerator unites patients, universities, two national research institutes and the private sector in a powerful partnership.

“Together, we will speed up the complex process of identifying and recruiting the right people for dementia clinical trials across the UK – accelerating the search for new treatments, earlier diagnosis and better care.”

Participants undertake cognitive tests and provide a blood sample, which is tested for biomarkers that have been linked to dementia risk.

More than 800 people have taken part in the first few weeks and by early 2027, the Dementia Trials Accelerator aims to have more than 10,000 participants who want to take part in future research.

Information gathered from the accelerator participants is linked to clinical survey data and stored securely on a platform where approved clinical trialists can find willing participants more easily.

Professor Siddharthan Chandran, director at the UK DRI, said: “Dementia research is at a tipping point, and advances in biomarker research are integral to this.

“We can now identify the biological signatures of disease more accurately than ever before, enabling earlier diagnosis and more personalised approaches to treatment.

“The Dementia Trials Accelerator harnesses this, embedding robust biomarker testing at its core to ensure the right participants can be matched to the right trials.

“Scaling up clinical trial participation will turbo charge dementia research and bring us closer to transforming the outlook for everyone affected by neurodegenerative conditions.”

Participants consent before any data is linked or used, and personal identifiers are kept separate from research and health data (de-identified).

The accelerator is funded by £20 million from the Medical Research Council and is currently by invitation only to existing participants of the REACT study.

Dr Zubir Ahmed, health minister, said: “By bringing together world-class researchers and the power of health data, we are building a pipeline of people who are ready and willing to take part in the trials that will shape the treatments of the future and hopefully transform the lives of patients for generations to come.”