Tufts announces public launch of Institute for Biomedical Partnerships, HUB website

Tufts University today announced the public launch of the Tufts Institute for Biomedical Partnerships website/HUB: www.tuftspharmapartners.org

The Institute is university-wide, global pharmaceutical partnering initiative designed to create and manage a diverse portfolio of drug discovery and development partnerships.

The Institute was developed and is managed by Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts University's Advancement Division.

"Our objective is to form innovative drug discovery and development alliances between Tufts and the pharma industry based on existing assets of strategic interest, while generating revenue streams to benefit the university and industry alike. To this end, we're focused on establishing a global brand for Tufts drug discovery and development expertise," said Lawrence J. Botticelli, Ph.D., Founder and current Chief Business Officer of the Institute.

The Institute's website is an interactive web medium, or "HUB", custom-developed and designed to educate and engage pharma partners, qualify partners and create distinctive alliances. The website functions as the Institute's principal commercialization portal, communication vehicle, strategic market resource, and information repository. It is designed to facilitate a distinctive approach to raising industry knowledge and awareness of Tufts' established expertise and the formation of important strategic alliances. Current information in the HUB includes five thematic areas of expertise derived from five different schools and one center. The site provides immediate access to nearly 60 research activities driven by more than 50 participating faculty members with navigable information in more than 300 categories.

"The creation of the HUB and the Tufts Institute for Biopharmaceutical Partnerships represents a landmark event and presents an exciting opportunity to those of us engaged in the discovery and innovation process," said Ira Herman, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Center for Innovations in Wound Healing Research at Tufts University School of Medicine. "We hope that this new portal will enable us to establish meaningful partnerships focused on delivering novel therapeutics and cutting edge technologies, as well as significantly extend current standards of care and clinical practice, locally and globally."

In his recent review of the website/HUB, David Damassa, Ph.D., Dean, Information Technology, Tufts University School of Medicine, commented, "The recently-published Institute for Biopharmaceutical Partnerships website, with its innovative Global Pharma Strategy & Project Development HUB, is a wonderful new resource benefitting both the global pharmaceutical industry and Tufts University. The design of the site and its theme areas of "Discover | Collaborate | Innovate" truly capture the unique culture of Tufts University… Particularly compelling are the advanced search features of the HUB and its ability to create individual profiles so that use can be proactively connected with research and people of interest. The new site will undoubtedly raise industry knowledge and awareness of Tufts' established expertise and ability to form strategic alliances with industry, resulting in the development of important new drugs and technologies."

The Institute website/HUB introduces the pharma industry to a range of thematic areas of drug discovery and development expertise:

Innovative Therapies (Cancer, Infectious Disease, Cardiometabolic and Pulmonary Disorders, Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders),
Technology Platforms (Biomaterials and Biological scaffolding, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Function, Translational and Clinical Pharmacology, Functional Tissue Engineering, Functional Proteomic Screens)
Discovery & Development Services (Target Identification and Validation, Structural and Chemical Biology-Based Drug Design, Metabolic Analysis of Drug Candidates, In Vitro Models of Drug Transport, Experimental and Spontaneous Models of Disease),
Drug Development Science (Drug Disposition and Clinical Pharmacokinetics, Clinical Pharmacology, Drug Development and Regulation, Protocol Design and Complexity, New Models of Pharmaceutical Innovation, Pharmaceutical Economics)
Research Constellations (Establishment of non-traditional networks of robust research activities, including Regenerative Medicine, Biology and Aging, and Inflammation).

"The website/HUB is not simply an electronic repository of individuals, but a cogent, strategic expression of potential commercialization opportunities," said Dr Botticelli.