AstraZeneca inks two research partnerships with PatientsLikeMe, Lead Discovery Center

13-Apr-2015 - Last updated on 14-Apr-2015 at 21:01 GMT

Image courtesy of Lead Discovery

With an eye on early-phase research, AstraZeneca has signed two deals – a five-year agreement to gain access to PatientsLikeMe’s network, and a three-year alliance with the Lead Discovery Center.

For the PatientsLikeMe partnership, AstraZeneca will tap into the network of patient-reported data from over 300,000 members as a way to shape future drug development and help improve outcomes across its main therapeutic areas, with an initial focus on respiratory disease, lupus, diabetes and oncology.

“Understanding what patients are experiencing every day and how they define the value of their treatments are fundamental to our ability to push the boundaries of science in developing the next-generation of medicines,” said Briggs Morrison, EVP Global Medicines Development, AstraZeneca.

Ed Godber, Executive Vice President of Life Sciences Ventures, said the wide-ranging collaboration with AstraZeneca also marks a significant step in realising PatientsLikeMe’s mission to make patients true partners.

Lead Discovery

Germany-based Lead Discovery Center (LDC) and AstraZeneca also expanded their alliance an additional three-year period for AstraZeneca to provide an extended set of compounds to the LDC’s internal screening collection to pursue projects in the areas of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, oncology, respiratory and inflammation and neuroscience.

Under the terms of the agreement, the LDC will screen the combined compound collection of more than 450,000 compounds against a portfolio of innovative biological targets. Targets will be selected by the LDC from a range of academic partner institutions, including members of the Max Planck Society, Germany's leading basic research organization.

A joint steering committee will oversee the collaboration and review the output. The most promising compounds will be optimized into pharmaceutical leads with in vivo proof-of-concept. AstraZeneca has a preferred right to obtain a license for pre-clinical and clinical development and commercialization for any collaboration projects.

The renewed partnership follows a successful two-year collaboration and establishes the LDC as one of AstraZeneca’s four leading translational centers. Over the last two years, the LDC and AstraZeneca initiated six high-potential drug discovery projects which LDC says “are progressing well.”
Bert Klebl, CEO of the LDC, said: “We not only share our compound libraries but, moreover, our know-how and expertise on technologies and emerging disease areas, which enables us to identify, select and effectively progress joint projects . Together, we are perfectly situated to accelerate the translation of academic findings into new medicines.”

The LDC also sustains a preferred partnership with the Max Planck Society and has formed alliances with big pharma companies including Bayer, Merck Serono and Daiichi Sankyo, as well as academic drug discovery centers.

Garry Pairaudeau, Head of External sciences at AstraZeneca, added: “Open innovation is a key part of our drug discovery strategy and we are continuing to grow our external partner network. With LDC we have enjoyed a vibrant and productive scientific collaboration and it is clear that their scientists share our values and commitment to developing new medicines for patients who have an unmet medical need.”