UCB signs £3.6m research deal with Oxford University
pharmafile | March 20, 2012 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Oxford University, UCB, collaboration, research
UCB Pharma and Oxford University have signed an R&D collaboration agreement covering immunology and neurology.
The idea is to pool expertise and resources to boost research, identify the most promising drug candidates and take them forward.
This deal is the latest in a series of tie-ups between pharma and academia, and the Belgian firm is putting up £3.6 million toward the collaboration over the next three years.
Between five and ten projects, decided on by a steering committee of UCB and Oxford University representatives, will be selected for investigation in this time.
UCB’s immunology research hub at Slough currently focuses on research for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease and osteoporosis.
“This is an exciting new partnership and I am eager to see the research that results,” says Professor Sir John Bell, the university’s regius professor of medicine.
“Partnerships between industry and academia will have an increasingly prominent role to play in the development of new drugs, therapies and medical technologies,” he added.
UCB chief executive Roch Doliveux lauded Oxford University’s “world-class academic research,” and says it will dovetail with UCB’s work on antibodies. The company spent £230 million on R&D in 2010.
It is all music to the ears of the government, whose ‘Strategy for UK Life Sciences’ document aimed to improve conditions for investment in research based in the UK, prioritising the creation of new medicines from innovative research.
“The initiative brings together leaders from the academic and business worlds to drive innovation and develop treatments for serious diseases affecting millions of people,” said universities and science minister David Willetts.
“This will in turn have benefits for patients and the economy,” he added.
ABPI chief executive Stephen Whitehead also welcomed the agreement, saying: “Innovation in medicine is critical to the future of our industry, to the effectiveness of the UK healthcare environment, and most importantly, it is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of future patients.”
Adam Hill
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