Sanofi has entered into an agreement with The Centre for Genomic Regulation (Centre de Regulacio Genomica – CRG) to collaborate in the field of computational biology, medical genetics and epigenetics, “with special emphasis in genetic and rare diseases”.
CRG, an international biomedical research institute supported by the Catalan Government and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, says the research programmes will use state-of-the-art experimental platforms and computational and bioinformatics approaches. The partners have already initiated a first set of four projects which they say “will bring added value to basic research by offering a better understanding of disease for pathologies such as tuberculosis and cancer and also by helping to develop new therapeutic solutions for their treatment”.
Maya Said, who heads up Sanofi ‘s Strategy, Science Policy & External Innovation unit, said that “we recognise that in order to deliver on our promise to address patients’ needs, we need to tap into and enable innovation inside and outside our walls”. She added that the collaboration is “a multi-disciplinary approach with our internal exploratory unit and a major R&D centre in Europe, aimed at accelerating the pace of translating early disruptive science into validated concepts”.
Arguing that “research cannot remain distanced from the needs of society”, Luis Serrano, CRG director, said that “biology is getting ever closer to medicine” and institutes like his “must ensure that its research has a positive impact on human health and national economies”. However, he added that “we cannot do this alone and we need to collaborate with strategic partners”.
