Days after a pact with Pfizer was announced, ChemRar Hi-Tech Centre, a Russian pharmaceutical investment and R&D group, has announced an agreement with Abbott Laboratories to launch several research projects in the country.

Specifically, ChemDiv Research Institute (CDRI), a subsidiary of the USA's ChemDiv established at ChemRar in Khimki, Moscow, will work with Abbott to create advanced new forms of the US major's pharmaceuticals "to increase patient's compliance and decrease medicine intake". There are also ongoing discussions between CDRI and Abbott regarding several programmes "for joint small molecule medicine's development and enhancement".

Nikolay Savchuk, CDRI chairman, said the collaboration with Abbott "will draw on the company's expertise and technologies and Russia's significant scientific potential to effectively develop new products of the highest quality based on existing drugs".

It was also announced that ChemRar's R&D company, Intellectual Dialog, has launched a research project with Abbott aimed at the prevention and treatment of selected viral diseases impacting children and the elderly.

Last week, Pfizer granted exclusive development and marketing rights to Chemrar's SatRx unit for its dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor PF-00734200 for type 2 diabetes.