Our Science

Talisman uses novel, proprietary human stem cell models of neurodegenerative disease. This enables rapid and relevant target identification and validation, as well as testing of candidate therapeutics. This approach significantly accelerates drug discovery.

Our technology transforms the discovery of new disease-modifying treatments by avoiding the limitations of current neurological drug discovery approaches. Human stem cells are used to produce disease-relevant neurons and glial cells that replicate the different aspects of neureodegenerative disease , offering several different phases of the disease to target therapeutically. By using human stem cell-based models early in the drug discovery process, we identify compounds that have much greater relevance to the disease process in the part of the human brain affected by the disease.

Cell & molecular biology of neurodegeneration

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurological disease, affecting half of the World’s population over 85. The World Alzheimer Report estimated that the $604bn (£388bn) costs associated with dementia in 2010 amounted to more than one percent of the world’s gross domestic product. About 70% of these costs occur in Western Europe and North America.

There are no disease-modifying drugs currently available to treat the initiation or progression of AD, with currently approved products only providing temporary symptomatic relief.

There is an immediate unmet need for the development of new treatments that target the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease and allow early intervention before irreversible pathological changes occur. Meeting this need is a focus of Talisman’s work.

Our Science

Cell & molecular biology of neurodegeneration

We undertake research in three core areas

Human stem cell models of dementia

Cell & molecular biology of neurodegeneration

Target identification & validation