The collaboration facilitates interactions between physicians and scientists in both organizations to combine resources and expertise in disease intervention whilst providing flexibility to work in a variety of ways and accelerate the development of new treatments.
Since its launch in 2005, the collaboration has utilized AstraZeneca’s early development portfolio to generate over two dozen joint research projects. Both parties intend to build on these by extending the collaboration for a further five years and broadening its original focus from aerodigestive diseases to include targets with potential in a variety of cancer settings.
While the specific terms of the renewed collaboration remain confidential, it covers the sharing of intellectual property, MD Anderson’s rights to publish research results and funding commitments by AstraZeneca.
Brent Vose, vice president of oncology therapy area at AstraZeneca, said: “We have a number of promising compounds in development and look forward to seeing the results of some key studies throughout the next year. Our collaboration with MD Anderson has proven our ability to speed up the drug development process without compromising quality and we look forward to building on our joint efforts to date.”