The new partnership will bring Genesis Biotechnology Group (GBG) and its contract research organization (CRO) arm, Genesis Drug Discovery & Development (GD3), together with Yale to provide drug discovery services to researchers at the university.
GD3’s service providers include PharmOptima – after an acquisition in 2017 – Invivotek, and Venenum Biodesign.
According to William Wiesler, director of new ventures at the office of cooperative research at Yale University, the $25m Blavatnik Fund for Innovation was designed to bridge the gap from life science research to business. The fund will invest up to $300,000 per project to conduct experiments that prospective industry partners view as critical.
“It is the intent of the fund that most of the work be done outside of Yale at highly regarded CRO’s that are trusted by pharmaceutical companies and biotech investors. Genesis Biotech Group was chosen as Yale’s newest partner to provide these services on the basis of their strong reputation, breadth of services, and high-quality engagement with Yale Faculty,” said Wiesler.
Yale faculty will be able to, therefore, explore ideas with members of the Genesis Biotech group to develop research plans in collaboration, explained Wiesler.
He also stated that Yale labs have had a number of breakthrough medical products receive approval.
“Yale’s pharmaceutical pipeline boasts five marketed drugs and 20 in clinical development,” said Weisler. Partnerships, like that of GBG, are expected to grow the pipeline and advance more projects through preclinical development into trials.