Im2pact Consortium

A new consortium of 27 international partners from academia, industry, and small and medium enterprises, aims to tackle the unmet challenge of discovery and characterisation of blood-brain barrier targets and transport mechanisms for brain delivery of therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a protective layer between the brain’s blood vessels and the cells that make up brain tissue. This barrier provides a defence against the pathogens and toxins that may be in our blood, allowing very few molecules to pass through. It can also prevent many drugs from passing through into the brain, and this presents a major problem in treating neurological conditions and metabolic diseases, especially when using antibody therapies.On the other hand, several neurological diseases could originate from a dysfunctional blood brain barrier.