MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, has joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Centers for Accelerated Innovations (NCAI) program as the first biotech/pharmaceutical company corporate partner.

The NCAI program was launched in September 2013 to improve how basic science advances and discoveries are translated into commercially viable treatments for patients. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) will provide $32.5 million in grants to establish three translational research Centers of Innovation in Boston, Cleveland and California, consisting of 14 top-tier research institutions. The program seeks to accelerate the commercialization of university-based technologies, and public private partnerships are critical to the success of the NCAI program.

As a partner, MedImmune will play an integral role by partnering with the NCAI awardees and helping to shape strategic direction of the program. In addition, MedImmune may review prospective NCAI technologies in collaboration with the awardees and provide industry-style considerations regarding their commercial potential and early stage development. The NCAI will specifically address the gap in the commercialization pipeline between scientific discovery and company formation, supporting the long-term goal of more rapidly and effectively moving breakthrough innovations to available products that will have health, economic, and societal impact. Technologies of interest include those focused on improving the diagnosis, treatment, management and prevention of heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders and diseases.

The three inaugural, multi-institution NCAIs are: Boston Biomedical Innovation Center Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and President and Fellows of Harvard College); the NIH Center for Accelerated Innovation at Cleveland Clinic (The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine; Case Western Reserve University; Cincinnati Children's Hospital; The Ohio State University; and University of Cincinnati); and the UC BRAID Center for Accelerated Innovation (University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Davis; University of California, Irvine; University of California, San Diego; and University of California, San Francisco).

Source: MedImmune