Sanofi-aventis to collaborate with UCSF
Becomes first industry partner for UCSF\'s Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research (PBBR)
French drugmaker Sanofi-aventis will fund up to five University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) research projects a year and allow UCSF students or fellows to conduct research as company interns as part of two research deals signed this week.
This is the first industry partnership for UCSF's Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research (PBBR), which awards funding to projects with an innovative approach to scientific discovery.
The first sanofi-aventis deal will promote research in multiple therapeutic areas, such as oncology, ageing, diabetes and inflammation.
The second is an oncology partnership focused on project-based collaboration.
Under terms of the deal, UCSF and Sanofi will form a committee to choose from among UCSF-generated proposals. Sanofi will then provide up to five grants to accelerate the progress of the projects to the clinical proof-of-concept stage.
Sanofi will also fund students or fellows to conduct collaborative research as interns as well as an annual research forum to share knowledge and review progress of research projects.
‘By promoting open and deep scientific exchange between UCSF's leading researchers and sanofi-aventis' drug development experts, we aim to generate significant healthcare advances in multiple therapeutic areas, to discover and develop comprehensive healthcare solutions for patients,’ said Christopher Viehbacher, chief executive of sanofi-aventis.
This is the third research deal agreed by UCSF over the past two months. Bayer Healthcare earlier this week announced a master agreement for research collaborations with UCSF and last November the university signed a similar deal with Pfizer as part of the US drugmaker’s Global Centers for Therapeutic Innovation network.