Bristol-Myers Squibb and Emory University announce partnership

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced a new clinical research partnership with Emory University called the Master Clinical Trial Agreement.

It will see investigators from the university and affiliated institutions conducting phase II, phase III and paediatric trials involving investigational compounds from Bristol-Myers Squibb, in order to support their ongoing development.

The first studies to be conducted under this agreement will be in the field of oncology, with future trials to involve drugs from Bristol-Myers Squibb's metabolics, hepatitis C and immunoscience portfolios.

It is hoped that this partnership will accelerate the development of these compounds, thus making them available to patients as soon as possible.

Brian Daniels, senior vice-president for global development and medical affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: "This partnership is aligned with Bristol-Myers Squibb's strategy, which embraces the opportunity to selectively integrate the expertise of other organisations with our own to best meet the treatment needs of patients."

This comes after the firm announced a new partnership with the Tsinghua University of Beijing last month, with the goal of discovering new oncology and immunoscience targets.