Sep 10 2013
AstraZeneca and Hadasit, the commercial arm and technology transfer company of Israel's Hadassah University Hospitals, today said they will identify, evaluate, and jointly develop new treatments for several diseases, primarily focused on cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes.
The three dovetail with AstraZeneca's core therapy areas of oncology; cardiovascular and metabolic disease; and respiratory, inflammation, and autoimmunity diseases. CEO Pascal Soriot halved AstraZeneca's core therapy areas to three in March, as part of a company restructuring that included 3,900 additional job cuts, and is designed to reverse years of clinical setbacks.
"AstraZeneca now has a more intense focus on early-stage academic and biotech alliances. We look forward to collaborating with Hadasit on scientific research and pharmaceutical development here in Israel," David Goren, president of AstraZeneca Israel, said in a statement. "I am convinced this agreement has the potential to strengthen our pipeline of medicines in our core therapy areas."
Hadasit and Hadassah scientists will work with teams from AstraZeneca's innovative medicines and early development organization for an initial period of three years to investigate potential treatments, both biologics and small molecule compounds. The companies said their collaboration is designed to wed Hadasit technologies and research capabilities originating from Hadassah with AstraZeneca's global research and drug discovery knowhow.
The value of the collaboration and other financial details were undisclosed.
Hadasit's portfolio includes about 170 active patent families tied to medical and commercial breakthroughs, including the cancer treatment liposomal-doxorubicin, developed with Hebrew University.
This article was reprinted from Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) with permission from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) has retained its position as the number one biotech publisher around the globe since its launch in 1981. GEN publishes a print edition 21 times a year and has additional exclusive editorial content online, like news and analysis as well as blogs, podcasts, webinars, polls, videos, and application notes. GEN's unique news and technology focus includes the entire bioproduct life cycle from early-stage R&D, to applied research including omics, biomarkers, as well as diagnostics, to bioprocessing and commercialization.
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