AstraZeneca and ADDC to support new drug research projects

AstraZeneca has announced a new partnership with the Academic Drug Discovery Consortium (ADDC) that aims to support five new drug research projects.

The scheme will see the ADDC provide its members with the opportunity to access AstraZeneca's high-quality compound library through a competitive Request for Proposals process.

Each of the five selected institutions will be able to access up to 250,000 compounds from AstraZeneca's internal screening library, with selected participants working closely with the company's scientists on oncology, diabetes and psychiatric disease projects.

AstraZeneca and the selected institutions will also negotiate an option agreement prior to pursuing screening and drug development work.

Garry Pairaudeau, head of external sciences at AstraZeneca, said: "AstraZeneca is delighted to be collaborating with ADDC and its member institutions to identify innovative drug targets that may have efficacy in diseases with unmet clinical need."

Earlier this month, the company announced that it will be allying with Lilly to carry out a phase II/III study of AZD3293, a new treatment for early Alzheimer's disease.