ShangPharma Innovation (SPII) is providing funding and other support to scientists at UC San Francisco (UCSF) to accelerate the development of science inventions.
The partnership helps advance a major new initiative at UCSF to bridge academic research with industrial development. Part of this effort, which SPII will support, involves backing preclinical research to validate drug targets and to develop programs to discover new drugs. Drugs that UCSF and SPII determine to be promising in preclinical studies can then be readied for clinical trials to demonstrate safety and efficacy in patients.
The collaboration agreement anticipates that SPII will provide several years of funding to carry out R&D in UCSF laboratories. SPII also will commit to spend additional amounts each year during the term of the collaboration to purchase Contract Research Organization (CRO) services in support of the projects being conducted by SPII and UCSF. CRO services will be provided by Shanghai ChemPartner. SPII and UCSF will share in future value created through this innovative partnership.
"When the proper bridges to fundamental research are built, important new medicines reach the marketplace, saving and improving lives around the world," said Walter H. Moos, PhD, CEO of SPII and adjunct professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF. "We have only just begun to scratch the surface of what's possible when academia and early-stage investors come together to advance novel discoveries. We look forward to enabling biomedical innovation across all borders and disciplines."
Cathy Tralau-Stewart PhD, interim director of UCSF's Catalyst Program and adjunct associate professor of bioengineering and therapeutics at UCSF, said, "The translation of early research into novel therapeutics for patients requires a wide range of expertise and capabilities. This collaboration will give UCSF access to the broad range of expertise and services required and will enable the translation of more UCSF discoveries to product opportunities with real potential benefit for patients. This is an important collaboration and we look forward to working closely with the ShangPharma and ChemPartner teams."