These renewable, three-year, master agreements establish a framework for collaboration on a variety of initiatives across a range of AstraZeneca oncology products and research projects. The umbrella agreements address pre-clinical and clinical research in a way that will allow the two organizations to more efficiently and effectively work to answer future research questions. The specific terms of the agreements are confidential.
"Establishing a framework for our ongoing relationship will save time and effort when negotiating individual research projects in the future," says Les Hughes, Global Head of Cancer Research. "It is vital that we collaborate effectively with the best cancer research institutions if we are to meet our goals of finding effective treatments for patients with cancer."
AstraZeneca and M. D. Anderson share a mutual goal of designing clinical trials that more efficiently determine the effectiveness of innovative cancer treatments in helping patients. The broad nature of these agreements aim to accomplish this by better integrating pre-clinical and clinical research. Scientists will combine resources and expertise in disease intervention and translational science to address key questions in the lab and later translate those findings to the clinic.
"Integrating ideas with industry earlier in the drug development process will enhance our ability to bring new treatments from the bench to the bedside more rapidly," says Robert Bast, M.D., vice president for translational research at M. D. Anderson. "To make the most rapid progress in th
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Contact: Nancy Jensen
nwjensen@mdanderson.org
713-792-0655
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
12-Jan-2006