Singapore: National Health Innovation Centre (NHIC) of Singapore has partnered with global pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, to get access to its 50 drug compounds for use in new studies to improve the understanding of a range of diseases and to develop effective treatments.

The partnership will support NHIC's drive to stimulate healthcare innovation and translational clinical research in Singapore.

Clinical researchers will be able to submit research proposals to the NHIC, which will judge the scientific quality and commercial potential of the applications and award funding through the 'Innovation to Develop (I2D)' and 'Innovation to Implement (I2I)' programmes of NHIC.

The collaboration is based on AstraZeneca's Open Innovation platform, which allows research centres around the world to explore new therapeutic uses for specific AstraZeneca compounds. The compounds have been optimized for potency, selectivity and safety as well as advanced through several stages of development such that they represent excellent tools to explore novel diseases and pathways that would otherwise not be studied. Key areas of interest include cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, inflammation, autoimmune, oncology and neuroscience diseases.

Intellectual property rights arising from projects using the compounds will be equitable and similar to those currently used in academically-led research. AstraZeneca will retain rights over the chemical composition of the compounds, which have taken millions of dollars to develop so far, and new research findings will be owned by the NHIC-funded institution.

Professor Ranga Krishnan, chairman, NHIC said, "This is an exciting collaboration for Singapore's clinical research sector and a reflection of its increasing impact on the international medical research landscape. We hope this innovative approach with AstraZeneca will advance disease understanding and result in new therapies to improve patient health."

"We are delighted to work with the NHIC and leading scientists in Singapore in pushing the boundaries of science to develop potential new medicines for patients. This collaboration is a further extension of our commitment to foster and access biomedical innovation across Asia Pacific and our willingness to open up our extensive compound library to talented scientists across the globe in the search for innovative solutions" said Dr Ajay Gautam, executive director and head of collaborations for Asia Pacific and emerging markets, AstraZeneca.