Bayer HealthCare and Peking University (PKU), Beijing, China, have signed a comprehensive collaboration agreement on a three-year strategic partnership to promote translational research for drug discovery. Under this agreement, the two partners will establish a joint research center at Peking University under the name Bayer HealthCare/Peking University Center of Translational Research for Drug Discovery (BPC/TRDD).

“Strategic alliances with international innovation partners from industry and academia are an essential element of our R&D strategy and complement our own research capabilities,” said Dr. Andreas Busch, member of the Bayer HealthCare executive committee and head of global drug discovery. “The establishment of this research collaboration with Peking University also demonstrates Bayer’s ongoing commitment to China as an important location in our innovation strategy. We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the excellent scientists at Peking University.” 

The collaboration will focus on applying basic research to drug discovery in the therapeutic areas of cardiology, oncology, hematology, and gynecological therapy, as well as technological research along the drug-discovery and -development value chain. Through this collaboration, scientists at PKU and BHC will be able to work together on the discovery of new medicines and contribute to the innovation landscape in China.

“The open innovation model chosen for this industry/university partnership is an excellent way to combine the academic creativity at Peking University with Bayer HealthCare’s industrial drug development experience to accelerate today’s drug-discovery processes,” said Professor Dongmin Chen, dean of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and director of the Office of Science and Technology Development at Peking University.

The Bayer HealthCare/Peking University Center of Translational Research for Drug Discovery will serve as a platform enabling scientists in life-sciences-related schools— such as the School of Life Sciences & Institute of Molecular Medicine and the School of Chemical Biology & Biotechnology and other affiliations at Peking University— to collaborate with scientists at Bayer HealthCare Global Drug Discovery.

“The broad spectrum of basic research expertise at PKU perfectly complements Bayer’s experience and long-term commitment in novel drug discovery,” said Prof. Hong Wu, dean of the School of Life Sciences of Peking University and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, who will— together with Dr. Jing-Shan “Jennifer” Hu, vice president and head of Innovation Center China at Bayer HealthCare— be responsible for directing the research activities at the BPC/TRDD. “We are looking forward to collaborating with our colleagues at Bayer to improve human health through translational research.”

As part of the agreement with Peking University, Bayer HealthCare will provide funding for collaborative research projects. In addition, Bayer will sponsor a Bayer Professorship and Bayer Investigator Awards to promote and reward scientific excellence, important contributions to life sciences, and research that is beneficial to drug discovery, especially in the fields of Bayer HealthCare’s core therapeutic areas.

The strategic partnership with Peking University further underlines Bayer HealthCare’s ongoing commitment to China as an important location in its innovation strategy. Bayer HealthCare’s Innovation Center China was established as early as 2009 as part of its R&D Center China to strengthen the company’s global research-and-development capabilities and to include the clinical profiles and medical needs of Asian patients early on in its drug development activities.

Source: Bayer

Edited by: Arthars