We raise and award grants to academic and biotechnology industry scientists who are conducting drug discovery research for Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias
and cognitive aging. We negotiate individualized contracts with our awarded scientists to identify pivotal milestones in their research and ensure they accomplish their goals.
For ADDF,
biomedical venture philanthropy means adapting the operating model and principles of venture capital investing to our philanthropic mission in biomedical research. We seek a return on investment for all our grants, based on the achievement of scientific milestones. When these milestones are met, funds come back to the Foundation to increase our ability to fund more research.
WHY Venture Philanthropy:
In order to accomplish our mission, we engage in a worldwide program of providing funding to academic and industry scientists. Academic and early-stage biotechnology researchers have difficulty finding support for high risk drug discovery and development projects that are costly and take many years to achieve results. Government and traditional foundations tend to fund basic research. Pharmaceutical companies and venture capitalists favor supporting later-stage research and clinical trials that are further along in the marketing pipeline. Therefore, we seek to fill the critical translational research funding gap and catalyze scientists to enter the AD drug discovery field.
Our funding decisions are based on rigorous scientific reviews. Through our leading international
Scientific Review Board we provide due diligence and validation in the field.
