Ipsen To Launch New Peptide Research Lab
By C. Rajan, contributing writer
French pharmaceutical company Ipsen has extended two of its strategic partnerships with academia to new levels in the past week by setting up a new peptide research lab and committing to research in medical sciences.
On Nov 20th, Ipsen announced that it has teamed up once again with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and the University of Rennes 1, to create the ‘Archi-Pex’ joint research and innovation laboratory for peptide architectures and formulations.
The joint Archi-Pex lab will be funded by the French National Research Agency and will conduct multi-disciplinary research in physics and biology together with Ipsen's center for pharmaceutical development in France.
The new laboratory will work on developing new formulations of hormonal peptides with faster development times. In particular, Archi-Pex will focus on new sustained-release formulations based on peptide self-assemblies and alternative drug delivery systems, particularly in endocrinology.
Jonathan Barnsley, EVP, Technical Operations of Ipsen, said, "The launch of Archi-Pex is the crowning venture in the successful public-private research partnership between Ipsen, CNRS, CEA, and the University of Rennes 1. It is a clear demonstration of the high quality research conducted by Ipsen. The goal of this close collaboration is to drive innovation for the benefit of patients with disabling conditions."
This is one of several recent announcements about Ipsen’s partnering efforts. On Nov 18th, Ipsen announced that it has extended its collaboration agreement with the Salk Institute for conducting discovery research in biology and medical sciences for another three years. The goal of this collaboration is to achieve a deeper knowledge of human diseases so that new and improved therapies can be developed for serious medical conditions.
Their earlier three-year collaboration from 2011-2014 resulted in a better understanding of the biology of tumor cells and applications of stem cell neurons in neurodegenerative diseases. Under their recently renewed agreement, these projects will continue and deliver further insights to speed up the development of treatments for oncology, endocrinology, and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Ipsen is highly enthused to continue its longstanding collaboration with the Salk Institute” said Claude Bertrand, CSO of Ipsen. “Our Open Innovation approach to collaboration drives biological discovery to potentially benefit patients suffering from serious diseases with complex pathogenesis. The creative research environment at the Salk Institute, together with the high caliber of faculty involved in the research programs, provides the best opportunity to develop potential medical breakthroughs”.