New research and development partnership

03.04.2012 10:55

Biopharmaceutical company UCB Pharma and the University of Oxford have agreed to work together on innovative pharmaceutical research projects. The goal is to enable scientists from industry and academia to cooperate to develop innovative drugs for the treatment of serious diseases in the areas of immunology and neurology. According to the company, this combination of resources and expertise offers the “best possible opportunity to translate innovative research into new medicines for patients.”

Professor Sir John Bell, (Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford and former President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Sciences, signed an agreement with the CEO of UCB and Chairman of the Innovative Medicines Initiative ( IMI)”, Roch Doliveux, and Ismail Kola, Executive VP and President of “New Medicines” UCB.

UCB is a research-focused biopharmaceutical company that invested 24 percent of its revenue in research and development in 2011. The Oxford-UCB partnership is funded by a £3.6m contribution from UCB and will run for three years. A steering committee made up of representatives from UCB and the University of Oxford will oversee the collaboration through regular meetings to identify and support new projects. Within the three-year contract, five to ten projects will be selected for further development.

Professor Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, explains the reasons for the collaboration: “This is an exciting new partnership and I look forward to the research projects that will result from it. Partnerships between industry and academia will play an increasingly important role in the development of new drugs, therapies and medical technology. Pooling expertise and resources is the right way to do the best possible research to identify the most promising candidates for new drugs and advance them.”