Fortune 500 Companies Commit to Accelerate Alzheimer's Prevention Research

CEOi, Bank of America, GE Healthcare, Janssen Research and Development and Merck Partner with Banner Alzheimer's Institute to Encourage Enrollment in Alzheimer's Prevention Registry

PHOENIX, Sept. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Recognizing the need to accelerate research to prevent Alzheimer's disease and engage consumers, Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI) announced a major multi-corporation partnership today. The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's disease (CEOi) and many of its member companies including: Bank of America, GE Healthcare, Janssen Research and Development, LLC., and Merck will partner together to highlight the need for greater research progress, a key emphasis of World Alzheimer's Day this Saturday.

"If we are to stop Alzheimer's by 2025, people with this disease must join the battle by volunteering to test potential new medicines. Thanks to these companies for bringing a way for Americans to raise their hands to volunteer to the attention of their employees," said George Vradenburg, founder and convener of CEOi.

Every year on World Alzheimer's Day, Alzheimer's organizations on every continent focus on raising awareness about the disease and related dementias. This devastating, debilitating and incurable disease affects more than 5.2 million Americans with one new case diagnosed every 68 seconds. By 2050, that number could nearly triple.

"Only by working together can we find ways to prevent Alzheimer's before we lose another generation," said Dr. Eric M. Reiman, CEO of Banner Research and executive director of Banner Alzheimer's Institute. "We are grateful to the CEOi, Bank of America, GE Healthcare, Janssen Research and Development and Merck for their commitment to this important fight."

BAI will be implementing a public service campaign featuring digital public service messages (PSAs) that encourage people to sign up for the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry. The Registry is an online community of people who are interested in making an impact on Alzheimer's research to help stop the disease. It provides regular updates on the latest scientific advances, as well as information on overall brain health. And to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to clinical research, the Registry supports enrollment into a variety of Alzheimer's prevention studies across the country.

BAI created the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry (www.endALZnow.org) as part of its mission to end the disease through research at its earliest, pre-symptomatic stages. Such work and other studies often must screen 10 to 15 times the number of people needed because most trials require specific criteria for participation, and finding enough participants can delay research significantly.

About Banner Alzheimer's Institute
Through its research and care, Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI) is dedicated to the goal of ending Alzheimer's disease without losing another generation. It is helping to launch a new era of Alzheimer's research—treatment and prevention at the pre-symptomatic stage—and to establish a new comprehensive model of care. Established in 2006 by Banner Health, one of the country's largest nonprofit health care systems, BAI has a three-fold focus: to conduct revolutionary studies in the detection, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's; to set a national standard of patient and family care; and to forge scientific collaborations that bring together institutions and disciplines internationally.

The Alzheimer's Prevention Registry is a shared resource for the general research community and organizations nationwide and a resource for anyone interested in the latest advances in Alzheimer's prevention work. It draws on the support of its other partners, the Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer's Initiative and the Alzheimer's Research Forum, and the guidance of leading U.S. researchers and advocates, including Drs. Paul Aisen, Marilyn Albert, Jeffrey Cummings, Jennifer Manly, Ronald Petersen, Reisa Sperling and Michael Weiner. The Registry is part of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative (API), an international research collaborative.

About Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. We serve approximately 51 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,300 retail banking offices and approximately 16,350 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users and more than 13 million mobile users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

About CEOi
The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease (CEOi) is an organization of private-sector leaders who have joined together to provide business leadership in the fight against Alzheimer's. The CEO Initiative seeks to partner with public leaders to transform the disease from a social, health, and economic crisis into an opportunity for healthy aging and innovation in research and care. The CEO Initiative believes that, during this era of aging populations, it will take visionary, coordinated, goal-oriented leadership of public and private leaders working together to solve our greatest challenges.

About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter - great people and technologies taking on tough challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients.

About Janssen Research and Development, LLC  
At Janssen, we are dedicated to addressing and solving some of the most important unmet medical needs of our time in oncology, immunology, neuroscience, infectious diseases and vaccines, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Driven by our commitment to patients, we develop innovative products, services and healthcare solutions to help people throughout the world.

About Merck
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

SOURCE Banner Alzheimer's Institute