Bristol-Myers Squibb forms TransCelerate BioPharma with industry partners

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced that it is joining a number of leading pharmaceutical industry partners to form TransCelerate BioPharma, a joint initiative aimed at accelerating the drug development process.

The company has joined Abbott, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Genentech and Sanofi in forming TransCelerate BioPharma, a not-for-profit organisation.

Representing the largest ever initiative of its kind, TransCelerate will aim to identify and solve common drug development challenges, with the goal of improving clinical study quality and bringing new medicines to market faster.

Each of the ten founding companies will combine financial and other resources, including personnel, with a total of five projects having already been selected for development.

Garry Neil, acting chief executive officer of TransCelerate BioPharma, said: "Our mission at TransCelerate BioPharma is to work together across the global research and development community and share research and solutions that will simplify and accelerate the delivery of exciting new medicines for patients."

Earlier this month, the company announced that it will be providing a series of grants to help improve cancer nursing skills in central and eastern Europe.