AbbVie has signed five-year research and discovery (R&D) agreements each with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Northwestern University for oncology R&D.

Both collaborations will focus on several areas of oncology research, which could include lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancer.

The Johns Hopkins agreement allows Johns Hopkins Medicine physicians and scientists access to explore therapies developed by AbbVie for use in preclinical research funded by the collaboration. This relationship includes opportunities for R&D teams from both AbbVie and Johns Hopkins to work closely to promote scientific knowledge exchange. AbbVie also gains an option for an exclusive license to certain Johns Hopkins Medicine discoveries made under the agreement.

Similarly, the Northwestern University collaboration provides the university’s Lurie Cancer Center scientists with the opportunity to access therapies developed by AbbVie for preclinical research funded under the agreement. Lurie Cancer Center scientists will also work closely with AbbVie’s research teams to support scientific knowledge exchange. This relationship also provides AbbVie with the option to obtain an exclusive license of certain Lurie Cancer Center discoveries made as a result of the five-year collaboration.

Source: AbbVie for Johns Hopkins collaboration and for Northwestern University collaboration