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Liverpool Impact Conference Collaborations with AZ. Tim French 4 th May, 2011. Our Focus is on Six Areas of Medicine. Cancer. Cardiovascular disease. Infection. Gastrointestinal disease. Neurological disorders. Respiratory & inflammatory conditions. Key Areas for Collaboration.
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Liverpool Impact ConferenceCollaborations with AZ Tim French 4th May, 2011
Our Focus is on Six Areas of Medicine Cancer Cardiovascular disease Infection Gastrointestinal disease Neurological disorders Respiratory & inflammatory conditions
Key Areas for Collaboration • New insights into • Disease Segmentation, • Biological Processes, • Novel Targets, • Disease Models • Hypotheses for Patient Stratification • Mechanisms of Drug Resistance • Novel Drug Combinations Disease Biology Translational Science Technology • Examples include: • siRNA • miRNA inhibition • Novel approaches to inhibit protein interactions
Example collaboration Molecular characterisation of Colorectal Cancer and Model Overlap (with NKI, Amsterdam) CRC Tumour samples Sequencing CRC Cell Panel CGH mutation mutation copy number copy number mRNA mRNA Affymetrix microRNA microRNA Proteins (incl. PTMs) Proteins (incl. PTMs) RT-PCR Reverse Phase Arrays In Vivo Pathway Modelling In Vitro Pathway Modelling
AZ – NKI Collaboration: Comments from Lodewyk Wessels (Lead Investigator) Research interests: • Development of computational approaches for the integration of heterogeneous (high throughput) data types to: • predict clinical endpoints such as outcome and therapy response • identify oncogenes and models of oncogenic pathways to improve mechanistic understanding of oncogenesis. Rationale for collaborating with AZ • AZ provides high quality, high-throughput molecular data (one of the most comprehensive of its kind) • AZ provides access to a large cell panel with cell lines responses to (proprietary) compounds • AZ provides complementary oncological and biological expertise • AZ funds a postdoc • Through the AZ collaboration we have expanded the critical mass by including Agendia and potentially MD Anderson
Elements of Successful Collaborations / Partnerships • Common vision with clearly defined objectives • Complementary skills and expertise • Mutual commitment of time and resources with frequent communication • Financial support may be critical component of collaboration but undesirable for it to be the core driver • Patience with partner organisation and recognition of differences Misconceptions.... • Reluctant and/or slow to publish • AZ is much more ‘porous’ than in recent past • Upfront discussion on publication opportunities and potential hurdles • Sharing of industry data • Both within and outside Confidentiality Agreements
Contact and Further Information Contact: • Sally Sambrook sally.sambrook@astrazeneca.com Further information on our research areas and pipeline: http://astrazeneca.com