“The consequences of neurological disease affects so much more than the nervous system; it often turns the affected person’s life upside down. This feeds our relentless quest for ‘what’s next’ in innovative treatments”

Dieter Schultewolter, VP Global Medical Affairs Neuroscience

A neurological condition is defined as any condition that affects the brain, spinal cord and/or nerves. Because these systems control the mind and body, neurological conditions affect the way people think, feel and interact with the world. They include conditions which have an impact on mental health, such as schizophrenia and dementia, as well as movement disorders – which may also have a psychological impact - including Parkinson’s Disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) and Huntington’s Disease (HD).

As well as affecting patients directly, neurological conditions often also carry secondary risks. 78% of patients have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and a 85% higher risk of dying from CVD, while schizophrenia patients have 15-20 years’ reduced life expectancy.

In addition, they can carry a high psycho-social burden that may amplify the physical effects, as outlined below. And these conditions may also severely disrupt the lives of the patient’s family and friends.

Decades of Commitment to Neuroscience

Teva’s commitment to supporting patients with neurological conditions stretches back over 30 years, when we first developed treatments for MS and PD. Since then, our widening neuroscience portfolio includes innovative treatments that are supporting patients across schizophrenia, MS, migraine, TD and HD. Today we have seven medicines for neurological conditions in our pipeline and 3,700 employees working in six R&D hubs in the US, Israel, India, Croatia, the UK and Australia.

However, it’s not just about providing investigational medicines, though this is very important. It’s also about using cutting-edge technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to speed up the development of medicines and diagnoses. For example, Teva is investigating the use of facial recognition tools for the diagnosis of TD patients, and automated speech-based tools for the prediction of a potential clinical deterioration of patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia

Mark Suett is a Senior Director on the Medical Affairs team, leading on neuropsychiatry, with wide-ranging experience of treating patients with schizophrenia from 15-years working as a psychiatrist. He outlines the challenges in providing treatment for the condition.

“People living with schizophrenia often have limited awareness of their illness and because of that, taking oral medication, potentially for the rest of their lives, is a challenge. Subsequently, adherence rates for all schizophrenia treatments are poor.”

To answer this challenge, Teva is working to improve how treatments are delivered - for example, introducing long-acting injections that can be taken every month, instead of a daily tablet.

Movement Disorders

Verena Ramirez Campos is a Senior Global Medical Director in Neurology and has extensive knowledge of neurological conditions including TD and HD from her time working as a neurologist and immunologist.

“Both TD and HD can carry a high burden for patients,” she says. “TD is characterized by a predominantly involuntary facial movement and is often experienced by patients who have used anti-psychotic drugs, so there is frequently an underlying mental health condition. Physical complications include tooth fractures and problems with speech and swallowing, and the condition can also generate a lot of stigma, which may lead to isolation and depression.”

The situation is similar for HD, an inherited disorder that causes chorea, involuntary movements affecting the body’s muscles that impacts patients physically, psychologically, functionally and socially.

For patients like Zion, chronic movement disorders can take away the ability to do the things we all take for granted, simple things like holding a spoon.

Addressing High Unmet Needs

Conditions like pediatric migraine and rare diseases are part of our focus

Migraine

Verena also works in the area of migraine, which is estimated to affect more than 10% of the global population. Again, it’s not just about treating the physical pain aspect, it’s also about acknowledging the connected range of symptoms suffered by patients, from light and noise phobias to nausea and vomiting, which leads to reduced quality of life between episodes.

“The hardest thing with having a chronic migraine condition is not being able to control things in your life,” says Daisy Swaffer. “I used to have a really good career in IT, working with people that I loved. Eventually, I had to stop working. It's so frustrating. I'd loved my job, and I can't do it anymore because the migraines physically stop me from doing it.” See Daisy’s story.

Advancing the Future of Neurological Care

Recognizing that the pediatric population living with migraine is an underserved population that needs a treatment solution, Teva is also working on new treatments for pediatric migraine, a condition that affects approximately 9% of children and adolescents worldwide.  

Teva’s commitment to addressing areas of high unmet medical need in neuroscience is further exemplified by our clinical development program focused on Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), a rare disease for which treatments are not currently available, as well as our exploration of innovative treatments for PD, informed by the latest scientific advancements.

Collaboration and education are also key parts of Teva’s work in the field of neuroscience, generating and sharing data, knowledge and experience. All our endeavours are driven by one purpose, to help support patients and the people who care for them.