Ipsen signs new research agreement with Harvard University

Ipsen has announced a new multi-year research alliance agreement with Harvard University, focusing on a number of key disease areas.

Researchers at Ipsen and Harvard will work together to identify and develop collaborative programmes in the areas of neuroendocrine tumours, neuromuscular disorders and platform technologies related to toxins and peptides.

This strengthens the existing relationship between the two organisations and will build on the success of an existing, three-year programme initiated in July 2013, coordinated by Harvard's Dr Min Dong.

Through this partnership, Dr Dong's lab has been able to engineer novel recombinant botulinum toxin molecules that may improve upon the therapeutic performance of existing treatments for neuromuscular tremors and spasms.

Claude Bertrand, executive vice-president of research and development and chief scientific officer at Ipsen, said: "The objective of this new collaboration, expanding our excellent on-going relationship with Harvard, is to leverage their faculty's depth and breadth of medical discovery expertise."

The company recently opened a new research and development centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as a means of further strengthening its US presence.