The FTD Research Roundtable is a new initiative at AFTD to enable discussion and shared problem-solving across the biopharma companies developing treatments for FTD and the regulatory agencies that evaluate the benefit and risk of proposed treatments. The inaugural 2023 FTD Research Roundtable convened representatives from fifteen biopharmaceutical company members of the Roundtable, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as non-profit partners, academic researchers, and advocates focused on advancing FTD research towards treatment and cure. This in-person meeting occurred on September 5-7 in Arlington, Virginia and centered around increasing power and efficiency in FTD clinical trials. Speakers described the current state of FTD clinical trials and discussed potential solutions to the challenges of conducting clinical trials for a rare, heterogeneous disease like FTD. This information sparked lively discussions about how the field can leverage current resources and collaborate to overcome the current barriers to success.

The FTD Research Roundtable was chaired by Dr. Adam Boxer (UCSF) and Dr. Michael Gold (Neumora Therapeutics), with collaborative leadership from Dr. Michelle Campbell (FDA), Dr. Howard Feldman (UCSD), Dr. Serena Hung (Arkuda Therapeutics), Dr. Rodney Pearlman (Bluefield Project to Cure FTD), and Dr. Penny Dacks (AFTD). The Roundtable is an evolution of the earlier FTD Treatment Study Group (FTSG). FTSG focused on motivating companies to conduct FTD clinical trials. As more biopharmaceutical companies began FTD clinical and pre-clinical trials, the FTD Research Roundtable was developed to promote precompetitive collaboration between companies and overcome challenges to developing treatments and diagnostics for FTD.