Yale and Gilead Sciences Announce Cancer Research Collaboration
March 30 2011 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:GILD) and Yale School of Medicine
today announced the formation of a multi-year research
collaboration focused on the discovery of novel cancer therapies.
The research effort will initially span four years with an option
to renew for up to ten years. Gilead will provide $40 million in
research support and basic science infrastructure development
during the initial four-year period, and will provide a total of up
to $100 million over ten years should the collaboration be extended
through that timeframe. Gilead will have the first option to
license Yale inventions that result from the collaboration.
Yale and Gilead will develop a multi-disciplinary research
program to search for the genetic basis and underlying molecular
mechanisms of many forms of cancer. Scientists from both
organizations will work together to identify new molecular targets
that provide better understanding of the basis of disease and
enable development of novel targeted therapies, including new
therapies that overcome drug resistance that develops in some
cancer patients treated with current targeted therapies.
“The collaboration brings together one of the world’s top
research universities and a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to
addressing unmet medical needs with the goal of finding new
treatments for cancer,” Yale President Richard C. Levin said. “This
truly is transformative support that leverages the Yale Cancer
Center’s top scientists, our West Campus technology investments and
the resources of the new Smilow Cancer Hospital. I can’t think of a
better partner to have in this collaboration than Gilead.”
“Following Gilead’s recent acquisitions of cancer development
programs, this partnership serves to strengthen our discovery
capabilities in the area of oncology,” said Norbert W.
Bischofberger, Ph.D., Gilead’s Executive Vice President, Research
and Development and Chief Scientific Officer. “Based on the strong
track-record of the Yale cancer research team, I am confident this
collaboration will lead to important advances in the understanding
of the genetic basis of cancer as we collectively seek to develop
novel targeted therapies for patients in areas of unmet medical
need.”
Research projects will be chosen by a joint steering committee
to be chaired by Joseph Schlessinger, Ph.D., and chair of Yale's
Department of Pharmacology and director of the Cancer Biology
Institute at West Campus.
“When we find cancer targets that are new, we will work with
Gilead on designing drugs, which they can then test in the clinic,”
Schlessinger said. “This is a tremendous opportunity for Yale and
Gilead.”
The Yale science team will also include Dr. Thomas Lynch,
Director, Yale Cancer Center, Physician-in-Chief, Smilow Cancer
Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital and renowned for his work in
personalized treatments for cancer patients.
The Yale Center for Genome Analysis at West Campus, headed by
Richard Lifton, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Genetics,
will analyze the DNA of a variety of tumor types to look for
genetic mutations associated with cancers. Schlessinger’s team will
use the data to understand effects of the gene mutations on cancer
and to identify ways to intervene in the disease process, such as
indentifying small molecules that will serve as the basis of
new cancer therapies.
“Yale’s faculty in this partnership possess critical and
complementary skills that comprise an optimal team for cancer drug
development,” according to Robert Alpern, M.D., Dean of the Yale
School of Medicine. “Tom Lynch brings experience in clinical cancer
trials, Rick Lifton has been a leading innovator in genetics and
genomics, and Yossi Schlessinger has unparalleled success in cancer
drug development.”
About Yale School of
Medicine
For more than fifty years, Yale School of Medicine has been at
the forefront of the continuously evolving field of cancer
research. The Yale Cancer Center is one of a select network of 41
comprehensive cancer centers in the nation designated by the
National Cancer Institute and the only comprehensive center in
southern New England, whose mission encompasses basic and clinical
research, cancer prevention and control, patient care, community
outreach and education.
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers,
develops and commercializes innovative therapeutics in areas of
unmet medical need. The company’s mission is to advance the care of
patients suffering from life-threatening diseases worldwide.
Headquartered in Foster City, California, Gilead has operations in
North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Gilead Forward-Looking
Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements, within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors,
including risks related to the ability of Gilead and Yale to
identify new molecular targets that warrant development. In
addition, Gilead may not exercise its option to license any
inventions resulting from the collaboration or renew the
collaboration beyond the initial four year term. As a result, the
efforts of the collaboration may not advance Gilead’s product
pipeline in the area of oncology. These risks, uncertainties and
other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from
those referred to in the forward-looking statements. The reader is
cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These
and other risks are described in detail in Gilead’s Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, as filed with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking
statements are based on information currently available to Gilead,
and Gilead assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements.
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