Big pharma and UK universities launch £40m innovation fund
pharmafile | January 25, 2016 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Apollo, AstraZeneca, GSK, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johson, UCL, University College London, University of Cambridge, collaboration, imperial college london, joint venture
A consortium of big pharma companies and university with world-leading medical research facilities is to invest £40 million, to “significantly improve the speed and potential of university research being translated into novel medicines.”
The £40 million Apollo Therapeutics Fund represents the first time global pharma companies and world-leading universities have embarked upon this type of joint venture.
The consortium members say the unique collaboration between AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and the technology transfer offices of Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), and the University of Cambridge, will drive forward therapeutic innovation.
The partnership aims to take on a well-known industry problem: that drug development is extremely complex, costly and lengthy, and to improve on the current figure that shows only around 10% of therapies entering clinical trials reach patients as medicines. Apollo aims to share the risk and accelerate the development of important new treatments, while also reducing the cost. It will be based at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Each of the three industry partner companies will contribute £10 million over six years to the venture. The three university partners will each contribute a further £3.3 million. The aim of Apollo is to advance academic preclinical research from these universities to a stage at which it can either be taken forward by one of the industry partners – following an internal bidding process between the three companies – or be licensed out. For successful projects, the originating university will receive a percentage of future commercial revenues or out-licensing fees, and the remainder will be divided amongst all the Apollo partners.
Dr Ian Tomlinson, former senior vice president, worldwide business development and biopharmaceuticals R&D for GSK, has been appointed chairman of the Apollo Therapeutics Investment Committee (AIC), and will lead representatives from the six partners in making investment decisions.
Richard Mason, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, says: “The Apollo Therapeutics Fund creates a unique ecosystem of world-class universities and global pharmaceutical leaders, with the ability to advance some of our region’s most promising science and technology from the critical early phases through to novel patient solutions. By combining our resources and sharing risk, we will propel research that can catalyse transformative healthcare solutions worldwide.”
Dr Steve Martin, vice president of biopharm discovery at GSK: “Collaboration is one of our most powerful tools in the pursuit of new medicines. Working with experts outside our own laboratories exposes us to differing expertise and innovation and means we can jointly shoulder risk – which in turn enables us to pursue some really exciting, ambitious science.
“The Apollo Therapeutics Fund is a great example of this collaborative approach to research. By fusing the skills and resources of academic and industry scientists during the early stages of research, I believe we’ll dramatically increase our ability to identify and nurture outstanding academic research, which can turn innovative science into breakthrough treatments.”
And Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of innovative medicines and early development biotech unit at AstraZeneca adds: “This partnership aligns with our commitment to being an integral part of the research community in the UK and takes a highly innovative approach to sharing both the risks and the rewards of applied research. I am confident that by working with scientists from world leading universities in the UK, we will help convert ground breaking science into important new treatments for patients.”
Lilian Anekwe
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