August 10, 2011

NIH Director’s Statement on Lawsuit Related to Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s Disease

Cerebral cortex, Alzheimer's Disease Silver stained section through the cerebral cortex from a brain with Alzheimer's disease, showing several rounded plaques composed of argyrophilic ganules (black). Horizontal field width is 450 micrometres.Spike Walker/Wellcome Images

We applaud today’s news in the legal battle over mouse models critical to Alzheimer’s disease research. This action ensures that researchers worldwide will have the tools they need as they strive to understand, treat, and, ultimately, defeat this devastating disease. Such research is absolutely crucial when one considers that more than 5 million Americans may have Alzheimer’s disease, and that number could more than double by 2050.

Under terms of an agreement reached on Aug. 9, the Alzheimer’s Institute of America, Inc. will dismiss The Jackson Laboratory as a defendant from a patent infringement lawsuit related to special transgenic mice used in Alzheimer’s disease research. Since 2003, NIH has funded the Jackson Lab, a non-profit research institution located in Bar Harbor, ME, to distribute these Alzheimer’s disease mouse models to the research community.

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health