Pfizer And UCL Team Up To Develop Stem Cell Based Therapies
I was excited to hear the announcement at the weekend that Pfizer has engineered a partnership agreement with University College London.
By on Apr 28, 2009I was excited to hear the announcement at the weekend that Pfizer has engineered a partnership agreement with University College London. This is focused on gaining better understanding into developing stem cell based therapies for certain ophthalmic conditions. The deal brings pharma support to the London Project to Cure Blindness, which aims to use human embryonic stem (hES) cells to replace the cells at the back of the eye lost in ageing degeneration.
The team up will combine the strong expertise of the university in cell based therapies with Pfizer's knowledge of putting together clinical studies, dealing with regulators and actual product manufacture. Whilst this is fantastic news for the blindness project and for UCL's research fellows, lets not forget that Pfizer have exclusive rights to develop a stem cell based treatment for the opthalmology field and, though footing the bill for UCL to research into these potential therapies, will reap massive financial benefits if the work is succesful.
However, it is about more than just that for Pfizer. Firstly, this move is another step in securing their position at the cutting edge of research into regenerative medicines. Secondly, Pfizer are behaving in an agile manner as a business, which in this climate is key to success. Thirdly, rather than paying lip service to the ever 'trendy' partnership approach, they are actually getting involved with both feet.
This is just one of a number of collaborations Pfizer has been developing in the last few years to deliver life changing medicines to patients. Personally I think this is a very positive step and look forward to seeing what comes next..