Bristol-Myers Squibb allies with MUSC on fibrotic disease research

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced a new collaboration with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) centred on fibrotic disease research.

The translational research collaboration will be focused on conditions such as scleroderma, renal fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, with the aim of finding out more about their biological origins, patient segmentation, biomarker approaches and predictors of disease progression.

There is a substantial unmet clinical need in the field of fibrotic diseases, which are characterised by the formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue, by identifying novel medicines to halt or slow disease progression.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has a number of promising assets in its fibrosis portfolio, including BMS-986020, which is in phase II development for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and a CCR2/5 dual antagonist in development for diabetic kidney disease.

Dr Carl Decicco, head of discovery for Bristol-Myers Squibb's research and development business, said: "Bristol-Myers Squibb's collaboration with MUSC further strengthens and advances our discovery research efforts in fibrotic diseases, a strategic area of focus for the company."

This comes after Bristol-Myers Squibb and the California Institute for Biomedical Research announced a worldwide research collaboration in January 2015 to develop novel small molecule anti-fibrotic therapies.