Sanofi and Aviesan, the French National Alliance for Life Sciences and Health, announced that they have renewed the cooperation protocol, signed in 2010, for an additional three years. The aim is to contribute to the development of new treatments that target unmet medical needs, including those in the field of rare diseases, to participate to the excellence and consolidation of research in French industry on an international level. Special emphasis will be put on translational research projects that bring together clinical and medical teams with fundamental research teams to translate research successes into medical advances.“As well as strengthening existing ties, this new agreement will allow us to explore other avenues of research,” said Professor André Syrota, president of Aviesan. “Translational research combines clinical and basic research, underscoring the critical importance of linking industrial and academic expertise.”
Several projects under this new protocol are under discussion, including the creation of centers of excellence as part of future investments, particularly in collaboration with IHUs (University Hospital Institutes) and IRTs (Technological Research Institutes).
“With the signing of several projects between Sanofi and Aviesan during the past three years, Sanofi has become the leading private partner of academic research in the life sciences,” said Dr. Elias Zerhouni, president, Global Research & Development, Sanofi. “Strategic and operational committees have worked tirelessly to achieve this convergence of the best in French academic excellence and our own teams. We all committed to pursuing these vital interactions in order to accelerate scientific discoveries for the benefit of patients.”
The new cooperation between Aviesan and Sanofi research teams will also spur the development of technology platforms to finance the work of researchers (e.g. the ATIP-Avenirs program), CIFRE fellows, post-docs and staff secondment.
A Strategy Committee and an Operational Steering Committee, each consisting of eight directors divided equally between Aviesan and Sanofi, will coordinate interactions between the different players, as well as preparing and validating projects and monitoring their implementation.
Date: September 27, 2013
Source: Sanofi
