INDUSTRY NEWS


Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Biomedical Systems also has a European office in Brussels, with logistical support facilities in Japan and India and investigative sites in almost 100 countries. Theorem Clinical Research has offices in more than 30 countries worldwide, offering deep expertise in a broad range of therapeutic areas and all phases of development.


“The right strategic alliance strengthens both companies, empowering us both to offer enhanced services to our clients,” said Tim Barrett, CEO of Biomedical Systems. “We believe this alliance with Theorem creates a synergy that will be a benefit to all.”


MedImmune and Joslin Diabetes Center Announce New Research Collaboration Focused on Advancing Metabolic Disease Research


MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Joslin Diabetes Center, the world's largest diabetes research and clinical care organization, announced a three-year research collaboration to develop new medicines for the treatment of diabetes, obesity, and related metabolic disorders.


MedImmune and Joslin researchers will work collaboratively on research projects to identify new drug candidates. Three initial projects have been identified, focusing on several key areas including protecting and regenerating the insulin producing beta cells, increasing the caloric utilization of fat depots (“beiging” white fat or expanding brown fat), and replicating the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery pharmacologically. The collaboration is structured with the potential for more projects to be added as new compelling science is identified.


“Cardiovascular and metabolic disease (CVMD) is a main therapy area for MedImmune, and we are pleased to enter this new research partnership with Joslin Diabetes Center to identify and translate the most promising emerging science into novel drug development projects with the potential to help patients suffering with diabetes, obesity and other metabolic diseases,” said Cristina Rondinone, Vice President and Head, MedImmune’s Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease (CVMD) Innovative Medicines Unit. “Joslin Diabetes Center is world-renowned for metabolic disease research, and will be an important partner for MedImmune and AstraZeneca as we continue our commitment to improve diabetes management and care through the development of innovative medicines.”


Under the terms of the agreement, MedImmune will provide research funding to Joslin and bring drug development expertise and capabilities to complement Joslin’s early metabolic disease research competencies and clinical care infrastructure. MedImmune has the option to license development and commercial rights to projects emerging from the collaboration.


C. Ronald Kahn, MD, Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief Academic Officer of Joslin Diabetes Center, who will head Joslin’s alliance team, added: "This partnership combines the discovery research and clinical care expertise at Joslin with MedImmune’s great development capabilities to hopefully move these


projects from important new concepts to treatments that could benefit the patients we treat in our clinic and the millions of others like them across the globe suffering from metabolic diseases."


Feinstein Institute Researcher to Receive Potamkin Prize for Alzheimer’s Research


The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and the American Brain Foundation will present the 2015 Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick’s, Alzheimer’s, and Related Diseases to Peter Davies, PhD, investigator at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. He will receive the prize on April 21 in Washington, DC at the American Academy of Neurology’s 67th Annual Meeting, which is the world’s largest gathering of neurologists with more than 12 000 attendees and more than 2500 scientific presentations on the latest research advances in brain disease.


The Potamkin Prize honors researchers for their work in helping to advance the understanding of Pick’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders. The AAN and the American Brain Foundation are awarding the 2015 Potamkin Prize to Dr. Davies and Reisa A. Sperling, MD, of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. The $100,000 prize (Dr. Davies and Dr. Reisa will each receive $50,000) is an internationally recognized tribute for advancing dementia research. Dr. Davies’ research examines the process of Alzheimer’s disease.


“The problems with memory and other intellectual function that occur in Alzheimer’s disease are accompanied by the development of two abnormal structures in the brain called plaques and tangles,” said Dr. Davies. “In contrast to other work in the field, my guiding hypothesis has been that both these abnormalities derive from a disease process in the nerve cells and are consequences of disease, not the cause. Therefore, my research has largely focused on the disease process, and attempting to define points at which intervention is possible. A more detailed understanding of the process is essential to the development of drugs to slow, stop, or even prevent it.”


Dr. Davies is the director of the Litwin-Zucker Research Center for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease at the Feinstein Institute and professor of Pathology and Neuroscience at the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. For more than 35 years, Dr. Davies’ research has been focused on biochemistry of Alzheimer’s disease. He has published more than 250 research papers and has been particularly interested in the development of new treatments and diagnostic tests for Alzheimer’s disease. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the City of New York Liberty Medal, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Congress on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD), and the first Metropolitan Life Foundation Prize. Dr Davies has also received two MERIT awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIMH, 1989–1999, and NIA 2003–2013).


“I am very grateful to the Potamkin family for the encouragement this award offers,” said Dr. Davies. “Funding for research in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders is vitally important. The Potamkin family has continued to support this work in hopes of helping the millions affected by these diseases.”


Pharmaceutical Outsourcing | 66 | March/April 2015


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