Subject(s)
Cooperative Behavior , Drug Delivery Systems/trends , Drug Discovery/trends , Research Support as Topic/trends , Academic Medical Centers/economics , Academic Medical Centers/trends , Drug Delivery Systems/economics , Drug Discovery/economics , Drug Industry/economics , Drug Industry/trends , Humans , Research Support as Topic/economicsABSTRACT
As a result of the increasing cost pressure on healthcare systems, the depletion of easily addressable and well-validated target groups in drug development and the requirement of public research to contribute to innovative treatment paradigms, broad partnerships between industry and academia are becoming increasingly important. However, owing to different goals and drivers, hurdles have to be overcome to exploit the full potential of such alliances. The factors that need to be taken into account during set-up and management of such alliances and the result and impact all of this has on drug discovery have not been analyzed in a systematic manner until now. This will be the focus of this review, using the strategic alliance between the German Cancer Research Center and Bayer HealthCare as an example.
Subject(s)
Drug Design , Drug Discovery/organization & administration , Drug Industry/organization & administration , Biomedical Research/economics , Biomedical Research/organization & administration , Cooperative Behavior , Drug Discovery/economics , Drug Industry/economics , Germany , Humans , Public-Private Sector Partnerships/economics , Public-Private Sector Partnerships/organization & administrationABSTRACT
Collaborations between industry and academia are steadily gaining importance. To combine expertises Bayer Healthcare has set up a novel open innovation approach called Grants4Targets. Ideas on novel drug targets can easily be submitted to http://www.grants4targets.com. After a review process, grants are provided to perform focused experiments to further validate the proposed targets. In addition to financial support specific know-how on target validation and drug discovery is provided. Experienced scientists are nominated as project partners and, depending on the project, tools or specific models are provided. Around 280 applications have been received and 41 projects granted. According to our experience, this type of bridging fund combined with joint efforts provides a valuable tool to foster drug discovery collaborations.