The FTD Research Roundtable is an annual program designed to accelerate FTD drug development by convening various scientific stakeholders to identify common challenges and advance solutions for FTD clinical trials. Biopharmaceutical companies currently conducting FTD pre-clinical and clinical trials are invited to join the FTD Research Roundtable, and in 2024, we were thrilled to have 15 companies participate in the program. By participating in the FTD Research Roundtable, membership companies can identify problem-solving opportunities in FTD drug development that can be tackled during virtual and in-person meetings.

AFTD hosted the 2024 in-person meeting in Arlington, Virginia, on August 27-29. The meeting opened with a welcome reception, followed by two days of scientific presentations, vibrant panel discussions, and numerous networking opportunities. This year, the program focused on biomarkers for FTD clinical trials, as suggested by membership companies. Meeting sessions covered the current and future utility of biomarkers for FTD. There were discussions on aspects of biomarker development that are particularly difficult for a rare neurodegenerative disease and ideas on how these challenges can be resolved. As a result, attendees found areas of potential pre-competitive collaboration that would allow for efficient and effective solutions in biomarker development and promote clinical trial success.

The 2024 FTD Research Roundtable was led by co-chairs Dr. Howard Feldman (UCSD) and Dr. Serena Hung (Atalanta Therapeutics) alongside the leadership committee members: Dr. Michelle Campbell (FDA), Dr. Joseph Marquez (FTD Family Advocate), Dr. Laura Mitic (The Bluefield Project to Cure FTD), Dr. Jonathan Rohrer (UCL, co-chair elect), Dr. Arthur Simen (Takeda Pharmaceuticals, co-chair elect), Dr. Steffen Thirstrup (EMA), and Dr. Penny Dacks (AFTD). Approximately 100 in-person attendees from academia, industry, government and regulatory agencies, nonprofit organizations, foundations, persons with lived experience of FTD, and AFTD staff and board members were at the meeting. All these attendees were focused on continuing the momentum toward successful FTD drug development. Visit the page on the FTD Research Roundtable and the related FTD Treatment Study Group (FTSG) to learn more about previous meetings and discussion topics.