Sanford-Burnham, Daiichi Sankyo Enter Into Drug Research Collaboration

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute has entered into an agreement with Daiichi Sankyo to study drugs that could one day help deter metabolic diseases. The two companies will work to develop drugs to fight cardiovascular metabolic diseases, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, peripheral artery diseases, and other serious problems.

The research project will last for 3 years, and terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sanford-Burnham officials have stated that the total value of the deal will float, depending on how the research goes. Sanford-Burnham’s strategy is to increase the company’s commercial partnerships and focus on new “open-innovation” work instead of trying to focus on the research of specific potential drugs.

Leslie Molony, senior director of the Office of Technology Management and Commercialization at Sanford-Burnham, says that this partnership “actually is potentially extremely lucrative [for Sanford-Burnham] because it not only provides us with research dollars and collaborations toward drug discoveries, but it also gives us a potential [commercial drug] license.”

Researchers from both companies will be screening molecules of enzymes, proteins, and biological chemicals to gauge their effectiveness against metabolic disorders. Dr. Dwight Towler, who works as the professor and director of Sanford-Burnham’s cardiovascular pathology program, said that the research will be “patient oriented,” and that the company will be looking to “translate research to tangible outcomes with therapeutics.”

The companies will be testing a variety of patients, including those who participate in high intensity exercise on a regular basis, and those who do not exercise at all. The researchers hope to figure out why some patients have little trouble maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system while other patients find it more difficult. “They have been very innovative looking for first-in-class therapeutics to these types of disease,” Towler said. “We see this as a terrific opportunity to translate some of our novel molecules and targets into actual therapeutics.”