Brussels, 21 October 2026: The European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND) partnership today announced the launch of EPND+, an independent, non-profit organisation that will take forward the infrastructure, resources and expertise developed through the five-year EPND project.
EPND+ was formally launched by EPND co-Lead Niranjan Bose at the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) Forum in Brussels, reflecting EPND’s origins as a public-private partnership established by IHI’s predecessor, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) 2.
Since November 2021, EPND’s 28 partner organisations have addressed a fundamental challenge in neurodegenerative disease research: Europe has a wealth of valuable research data and biological samples, but these resources are dispersed across studies, institutions and countries, making them difficult to find, access and reuse.
Connecting data and biosamples across studies and countries
EPND’s response to this fragmentation was to develop the EPND Hub, alongside the tools, standards, SOPs and processes needed to support data and biosample discovery, access and sharing.
Today, the Hub connects more than 120 research studies, 126 datasets and 38 biosample collections across 12+ neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It provides a unified gateway to these resources, underpinned by the AD Data Initiative’s AD Workbench, which provides secure cloud-based infrastructure and a growing range of data analysis tools.
The result is a more integrated and streamlined research pathway, from finding and accessing data and biosamples through to secure analysis and new research outputs.
“The EPND Hub is perhaps the clearest expression of what we set out to achieve five years ago,” said Niranjan Bose, Managing Director for Health and Life Sciences at Gates Ventures and EPND co-Lead. “Over the last decade, I have seen how breaking down silos and giving researchers access to the right data, tools and collaborators can accelerate innovation. EPND+ will extend this approach, helping initiatives work across countries and cohorts, with the expertise, data and biosamples they need to address new research questions.”
EPND’s biomarker Case Studies demonstrated this in practice, using samples and data from multiple cohorts and countries to test and refine the infrastructure and processes for sharing. The first three Case Studies used samples and clinical data from 350 participants across ten European cohorts, spanning Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, generating novel datasets that are being shared with the research community through the Hub.
“Developing the Hub has entailed making data discoverable and accessible while respecting different governance and consent requirements,” said Anthony Brookes, Professor of Genomics and Health Data Science at the University of Leicester and EPND co-Lead. “Rather than relying on a single data model or one set of sharing conditions, EPND employs a flexible approach to data sharing, thereby respecting data provider and user preferences, and includes centralised and federated approaches. This flexibility will allow the infrastructure to adapt as research needs and technologies evolve.”
EPND+: sustaining and scaling support for a new generation of research initiatives
EPND+ turns EPND’s five-year investment into a lasting foundation for future research, allowing its infrastructure, resources and tools to be reused, adapted and scaled by new initiatives.
European research initiatives are already building on this foundation. AD-RIDDLE is making research resources discoverable through EPND as it develops approaches for earlier detection, prevention and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. ACCESS-AD, launched in 2026, will use EPND infrastructure to support the discovery and sharing of clinical, imaging, biomarker and real-world data to improve timely diagnosis, treatment and monitoring.
“Sustainability is not simply about keeping the lights on after a project ends,” said Phil Scordis, Head of Data Science and Analytics at UCB and EPND co-Lead. “After many years working with health data, I know that data sharing challenges are not unique to neurodegeneration. EPND+ gives us an opportunity to preserve what we have built, while applying these solutions, expertise and lessons to new research questions, disease areas and collaborations.”
EPND+ will continue to operate and develop the EPND Hub, maintaining the materials created during the IMI funding period, as well as providing infrastructure and tools for data and biosample discovery and sharing. As a European legal entity, it can also partner with new research initiatives to provide adaptable Hub infrastructure and practical data-sharing support, tailored to different research communities and disease areas, rather than requiring them to develop these capabilities from scratch.
“Across IMI and now IHI, Europe has built more than 200 projects around some of our most complex health challenges,” said Niklas Blomberg, Executive Director of the Innovative Health Initiative. “Their strength is not simply in combining investments, but in bringing together expertise, data and capabilities that no single organisation or sector could mobilise alone. EPND+ demonstrates that public-private partnerships can create durable resources for European research, enabling new collaborations, advancing novel science and, ultimately, delivering greater impact for patients.”
The EPND project concludes on 31 October 2026, but its infrastructure, resources and mission will continue through EPND+.
Learn more: (EPND+ https://www.epndplus.org/ )
About EPND+
EPND+ is an independent, non-profit European organisation providing researchers with data infrastructure, resources, tools and services to advance research into neurodegenerative diseases and other health conditions. With organisational and technical support from the AD Data Initiative, EPND+ continues EPND’s mission to enable data discoverability and collaboration between researchers.
Funding acknowledgement
The EPND project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 101034344. The Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA.
Disclaimer
This communication reflects the author's view and neither IHI nor the European Union, EFPIA, or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.