KU Leuven: Alliance of translational research centres established to accelerate global drug development

The aim of this alliance is to strengthen the international academic and/or not-for-profit drug development and commercialization network to ultimately improve the rate at which academic research is translated into new medicines. 

The founding organizations are: 

• The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), Canada
• Lead Discovery Center (LDC), Germany
• The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Florida, United States
• The Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3), KU Leuven Research & Development, Belgium
• Medical Research Council Technology, United Kingdom
• Cancer Research Technology, United Kingdom

All member organizations are fully-integrated translational centres capable of professionally advancing drug discovery projects along the value chain from idea to drug candidate with proof-of-concept. Together, they represent close to 400 experienced drug developers collaborating with tens of thousands of academic scientists around the globe on over 165 highly innovative therapeutic projects targeting significant unmet medical needs. For the biopharmaceutical industry, they represent a major source of innovation. Numerous alliances with many of the industry’s leading global companies have been established to develop resulting drug candidates further and ultimately make them available to patients. 

Through this Alliance, member organizations will collaborate on mutually-beneficial projects, share best practices, expertise and resources, and develop common standards and performance measurements – ultimately working together to improve the conversion of global early-stage technology into much needed therapies. 

Karimah Es Sabar, President and CEO of CDRD commented, “We see a multitude of translational research initiatives around the world, but until now, these have for the most part, worked in isolation of one another. This Alliance will be a powerful vehicle in bringing such organizations together, leveraging one another’s strengths, and ultimately making for a much more effective global translational research environment.” 

Dr. Patrick Chaltin, Managing Director of CD3 added, “By pooling the expertise of these six experienced drug discovery teams, we all get a great opportunity to learn from each other’s experience and share information. This will allow every one of us to be more efficient and to allign or adapt our research efforts if needed. This alliance is a major step forward in further bridging the gap between academic innovative research and the needs of the pharmaceutical industry to the benefit of patients.” 

For additional information on the Global Alliance of Leading Drug Discovery and Development Centres, please visit: www.drugdevelopmentalliance.org