Lilly and Roche back US research institute
pharmafile | May 31, 2013 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Roche, lilly, notre dame, research
Eli Lilly and Roche Diagnostics are among the key backers of a $360 million US life sciences research facility which is to specialise in diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute is a public-private partnership set up by venture capital provider BioCrossroads and involves pharma, the state government and local universities.
Bioscience is estimated to contribute more than $50 billion a year to Indiana’s economy, and the bulk of the money for the non-profit organisation is expected to come from corporate and philanthropic sources, although the state is putting up $25 million in start-up costs.
Industry-sponsored research into areas which are also expected to include related issues such as obesity and nutrition will be crucial in funding the project.
Such public-private partnerships involving pharma and academia have become prevalent worldwide, with recent iniatives including K4DD (Kinetics for Drug Discovery) in Europe, which is trying to increase the hit rates of successful drug candidates by improving the way they are designed.
Others include the European Lead Factory project for pan-European drug discovery, in which BioCity Scotland and the University of Dundee are playing key roles.
As well as Lilly, Roche and the state government, the Indiana set-up is being supported by Dow AgroSciences, Cook Medical, Indiana University Health and Biomet, Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame.
Lilly’s senior vice president Bart Peterson said: “The Institute will help us nurture our partnerships across the country and develop more intellectual capital here in Indiana, allowing us to keep more research dollars in the state, attract more federal research funds and draw top scientific minds to feed our research pipeline and local economies.”
The idea is that ‘Indiana fellows’ will be recruited to lead teams of scientists whose expertise will include bioengineering, bioinformatics, nanotechnology and agriculture who will share resources and research laboratories at the institute as well as working at pharma firm sites.
“This diversity of industry capabilities creates opportunities for Indiana-based life sciences companies to work in collaboration – not competition – toward common scientific discoveries,” a statement from BioCrossroads concluded.
Adam Hill
Related Content
Roche receives CE Mark for blood test to help rule out Alzheimer’s
Roche has been granted CE Mark approval for its Elecsys pTau181 test, the first in …
Roche candidate shows early promise for treating haemophilia A
Roche has announced encouraging early results from its phase 1/2 trial of NXT007, an investigational …
Roche advances treatment for Parkinson’s disease
Swiss biopharma, Roche, has announced its decision to proceed with phase 3 trials of prasinezumab, …
