AstraZeneca and University of Manchester form North West Centre for Advanced Drug Delivery

Published: 30-Oct-2014

Aim to develop new drug delivery technologies

AstraZeneca and the University of Manchester are linking up to develop cutting-edge technologies to enhance the way drugs work and deliver better health outcomes for patients.

The partnership will come together as the North West Centre for Advanced Drug Delivery housed in Manchester Pharmacy School and will have links into a wide range of research groups throughout the University.

The centre aims to deliver enhanced fundamental understanding of drug delivery systems including relevant aspects of biology and physiology in cancer and other therapeutic areas of interest to AstraZeneca.

The aim is to deliver a portfolio of advanced drug delivery technologies for use with AstraZeneca drugs.

The collaboration will run for an initial period of five years, with academic researchers and AstraZeneca scientists benefiting from their close proximity and the increased open innovation happening across the two organisations.

The close proximity between our two facilities and the great pool of talent in both organisations provides considerable potential for the creation of groundbreaking innovations in advanced drug delivery

AstraZeneca scientists will be fully engaged in research projects, while University of Manchester researchers will have the opportunity to apply their science in the company’s drug development programmes.

The new centre will be led by academic Professor Nicola Tirelli and by Dr Marcel de Matas from AstraZeneca, and will see researchers across a range of disciplines working side-by-side with scientists in AstraZeneca’s Pharmaceutical Development group based on the Macclesfield Campus in Cheshire.

This work will complement another partnership at the Manchester Pharmacy School, where scientists from the Quantitative Clinical Pharmacology organisation at AstraZeneca have joined with academics from the School to form a Modelling and Simulation Centre.

In addition, scientists from AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Development also plan to be more closely engaged with the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the Manchester Pharmacy School. This will involve AstraZeneca staff teaching some elements of academic courses, with students and academic staff also visiting AstraZeneca.

This collaboration will provide students with a first-hand view of what it means to work in the pharmaceutical industry

Dr Victoria Silkstone, Placements Lead from the Manchester Pharmacy School, said: 'This collaboration will provide students with a first-hand view of what it means to work in the pharmaceutical industry and will provide potential opportunities for our talent to be considered for any suitable roles that might be available at AstraZeneca.'

Dr Paul Stott, Vice President, Product Development at AstraZeneca, added: 'The close proximity between our two facilities and the great pool of talent in both organisations provides considerable potential for the creation of groundbreaking innovations in advanced drug delivery, which we hope will make a meaningful difference to the health of patients suffering from serious diseases.'

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