The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, California, and the Japanese major Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited have agreed to establish a $10-million, five-year Innovation Alliance that would advance each organization's research missions.

The alliance specifically deals with translational research and proof-of-concepts research projects, which will be identified and generated with an ultimate goal of delivering innovative therapeutic products to patients.

The Sanford Consortium is a non-profit organization - comprising the University of California San Diego, The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology - principally engaged in translational research in stem-cell-based and regenerative medicine.

Chairman of the Sanford Consortium Malin Burnham praised the new alliance, touting its potential for positive outcomes for both partners and the public. "The avenues of research, and the applications of that research, have much promise for public-health breakthroughs as well as economic benefits for the partners and their communities," Burnham said.

"Takeda's mission is to bring important therapies to patients faster," said Seigo Izumo, MD, Global Head of Regenerative Medicine for Takeda. "We constantly challenge ourselves to innovate and think creatively, so we embraced the opportunity to engage world-renowned scientists through the Sanford Consortium, leveraging stem-cell-based research tools, technologies and know-how to discover and develop therapies addressing significant unmet medical needs."