Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration

Established in 2001 and located in the heart of the Cambridge, MA life science and biotech community, the Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration (LDDN) is our state-of-the-art drug discovery laboratory — fully equipped with a 14-person industry-seasoned staff, advanced robotics and an array of core resources.

Our aim is to help deliver a new generation of drug candidates and our approach is truly novel.

We bridge the "gap"  

We bridge the "gap" between academic research and industry-based drug development. Academia is typically focused on fundamental "scientific discovery." Industry's focus includes clinical trials, FDA approval and marketing. LDDN fills the critical "gap" between academia and the biotech/pharma — to help accelerate promising discoveries toward real patient treatments. 

We team up with others for success

We believe that drug discovery — particularly related to neurodegenerative diseases — is far too complex for any one laboratory to tackle. That’s why the LDDN seeks ongoing collaborations with leading universities and laboratories nationwide. We regularly issue nationwide requests for drug discovery proposals from the biomedical research community. And, we provide ongoing opportunities for academic investigators to temporarily relocate to the LDDN. They work shoulder to shoulder with the LDDN drug discovery experts who have years of drug development experience working for private industry. This close collaboration between the academic scientist and our drug discovery experts is an important feature of the LDDN.

Access to industry partners 

We know it takes industry participation to shepherd promising new treatments through costly clinical trials and regulatory approvals. An important aspect of the NeuroDiscovery Center's drug discovery is attracting interest from biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. That's why we work to ensure LDDN projects will meet the detailed and demanding requirements of future industry partners. 

Our Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration is exclusively focused on developing meaningful treatments to beat neurodegenerative diseases

How do we know our approach is working?

The LDDN has created over 40 drug discovery collaborations with investigators from the Harvard Medical community and beyond. One drug discovery candidate has already led to the launch of a new company. Several LDDN projects have advanced to testing in animal models of the disease and the planning of similar studies for additional promising drug candidates. LDDN was selected as a National Center for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration by the National Institutes of Health, a major 5-year grant award.