This partnership aims to harness the breakthroughs in biology and basic medical research at Oxford, injecting capital and expertise into potentially lifesaving medicines.
Recently appointed, under the new Labour Govenment in the UK, Peter Kyle, is Science and Technology Secretary. He said: "We want to harness life sciences to transform the UK’s healthcare and drive economic growth. Together, Apollo and Oxford University could deliver new medicines to help us tackle cancer, autoimmune disease, and more, improving and saving thousands of lives."
Under this agreement, Apollo will identify and assess novel therapeutic targets from Oxford's researchers. This collaboration provides Oxford's teams with access to therapeutic development expertise and programme funding from Apollo, leading to more clinical trials and faster routes to market for new medicines.
Professor Chas Bountra, pro-vice chancellor for innovation at the University of Oxford, stated, "My amazing colleagues at Oxford have numerous cutting-edge research programmes for producing novel therapeutics for patients. Apollo Therapeutics has assembled a world leading team of drug discovery and development experts. Together we are going to transform the lives of millions of patients. I am immensely excited about this collaboration."
Development of new medicines
The collaboration underscores the burgeoning innovation environment at Oxford, with Apollo's experts aiming to transform the standard of care globally by supporting the development of new medicines in areas such as oncology and immunological and inflammatory disorders.
Dr Richard Mason, chief executive officer of Apollo Therapeutics, emphasized the significance of this partnership: "At Apollo Therapeutics, we are ambitious in our mission to translate important new research discoveries into valuable new drugs. We are therefore delighted to be collaborating with the University of Oxford, a university that is consistently at the top of global rankings for scientific research and innovation."
This agreement marks Apollo’s sixth collaboration with a university or academic research centre, bringing its scalable R&D platform to Oxford’s world-class researchers. Dr. Mairi Gibbs, CEO of Oxford University innovation, added, "If we boost the funding and expertise provided to very early phase drug development programmes, this will hasten their progress towards becoming medicines with the potential to licence to industry or become spinout companies."
With a shared strategic intent to develop new therapeutics, Apollo and Oxford are poised to make significant strides in healthcare, enhancing and saving countless lives.
