Major Drug Discovery Collaboration between Monash and Servier Laboratories, France
SURESNES, France and MELBOURNE, Australia January 30, 2012
Les Laboratoires Servier, a leading European pharmaceutical company and the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), Monash University, today announced a collaborative agreement for drug discovery and research on G Protein'Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). The collaboration will make use of MIPS acknowledged world'leading capability in the identification of novel GPCR targets, in the understanding of GPCR functional biology and in the design of new chemical entities to modulate GPCR activity. MIPS has developed GPCR expertise comprising technology, research facilities and world leading scientists that enable it to conduct fundamental research, drug discovery and preclinical drug development activities on GPCR targets with therapeutic potential.
The collaboration will initially run for three years with the research program including known and novel GPCR targets, covering various potential therapeutic fields including metabolism, cardiology, neurology and psychiatry, rheumatology, and oncology.
Under the terms of the Agreement, MIPS will receive from Servier annual support for research activities undertaken as part of the collaboration and support for up to 15 FTEs to work exclusively on collaborative projects. In addition, MIPS will receive progress milestone payments for each collaborative project as well as royalties for any product developed as a result of the collaboration. Servier will receive exclusive worldwide rights to any product resulting from this collaboration, as well as the first right of negotiation to any GPCR targets not immediately selected as part of this collaboration.
Professor Bill Charman, Director of MIPS and Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash University, said today, "We are delighted to partner with Servier to advance our research and to translate our GPCR'based drug discovery insights to design new therapeutic agents for major human diseases."
Emmanuel Canet, M.D. Ph.D., President of Servier R&D, commented on the collaboration by saying that, "Servier is a company dedicated to the discovery and research of novel therapeutics for the treatment of human disease. This alliance with MIPS, an acknowledged leader in the field of GPCR biology, will significantly enhance our capacity to identify and address original targets that may lead to therapies for untreated needs."
"GPCRs have shown promise to be the source of targets for human diseases, however there is still a lot to learn about functional specificity. At Servier, as with other academic and industrial laboratories, substantial efforts have been made to modulate GPCRs for therapeutic use and we are now very excited to be working with leading experts in the field on a truly collaborative research program to extend our understanding of GPCR biology," said Bernard Marchand Ph.D., General Manager of the Institut de Recherche Servier.
About ServierServier is the leading independent French pharmaceutical company with a 2011 turnover of €3.9 billion. The Servier Group is established in 140 countries with its main therapeutic products used to treat diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, CNS disorders, oncology and rheumatological diseases. More than 25% of Servier's revenue is invested in Research & Development. Servier has 20,000 employees worldwide, including nearly 3,000 in R&D. For further information, please visit www.servier.com.
About MIPSMIPS is the largest and most successful pharmaceutical sciences research institute in Australia. Over 160 scientists and 120 PhD students undertake basic and translational drug discovery, delivery and development research in new, well equipped laboratories. Major therapeutic areas of interest include oncology, infectious disease, pain and inflammation, neuroscience and metabolic disease. For further information, please visit the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
For further information, please contact:Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Professor Bill Charman
Tel: + 61 (0)3 9903 9502
Email: bill.charman@monash.edu
Les Laboratoires Servier
Servier Communication Department
Tel: +33 (0)1 55 72 60 37
E'mail: presse@servier.fr