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Mental Health and Dementia are a global healthcare crisis, affecting over one billion people worldwide. Of those, over 400 million people are on the Alzheimer's disease continuum, with one person diagnosed every three seconds, and the figure expected to rise as the global population of those over 60 is set to double by 2050.

Digital illustration of a human brain

The global research community is trying to increase the availability of effective therapeutic and non-therapeutic options through service improvements, next-generation products, and the safe use of existing drugs for multiple conditions.

However, research spending on mental health remains low, compounded by expensive and complex clinical trials. While a large proportion of Alzheimer’s drugs have failed in the past, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel as two amyloid monoclonal antibodies have been approved recently Aduhelm (Biogen) in 2022 and Leqembi (Eisai) earlier this year.

With its breadth and depth of research into conditions affecting the brain, ranging from anxiety and depression through to stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, Oxford University and its spinout companies are turning the tide on mental health.

Innovative spinouts are developing tools diagnostics to rapidly diagnose and identify conditions before they appear, creating new and innovative therapies across the spectrum of conditions affecting the brain, and building the infrastructure to accelerate research, drug discovery and clinical trials.

Read about brain and mental health innovation at Oxford