Lessons Learned From Public Private Partnerships and Consortia: The ADNI Paradigm

Abstract Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) began as a 5-year research project launched in 2004 through a public-private partnership with public funding provided by the National Institute of Aging and private funding, facilitated through the FNIH, provided by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and research service companies and a nonprofit foundation. The overarching aim of ADNI has been to accelerate the understanding and validation of biomarkers to improve the speed and success rate of clinical trials evaluating novel Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapies. ADNI is an observational study designed to collect cross-sectional and longitudinal biomarker and clinical data in a large sample of participants across the entire spectrum of AD (mild cognitively normal, dementia) and cognitively normal and subjective cognitive impaired individuals. ADNI grant funding has been renewed several times with the most recent ADNI-3 grant in fall of 2016, which allows enrollment of additional subjects and incorporation of novel biomarker methodologies. The result is a rich dataset that has biomarker and clinical assessments performed within the same individuals with multiyear longitudinal follow-up, some greater than 10. Another key innovation is the open access to ADNI data, enabling researchers worldwide to utilize a common resource. ADNI also enabled researchers from academia, industry, governmental agency, and nonprofit organizations to assemble and collaborate in a precompetitive forum, to discuss the critical needs for developing novel AD therapies, and to develop priorities to inform the research communities. While ADNI served as a model for other initiatives, the true legacy is the continued research for AD.