Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre have announced their intention to collaborate and to establish a fund. The aim of the new partnership is furthering research into rare diseases.
Under the terms of the agreement, Alexion gains the opportunity to fund selected research through the Alexion Rare Disease Innovation Fund. Upon completion, Alexion will then have the exclusive option to enter into a licensing agreement. The fund will be part of Cincinnati Children’s Innovation Fund, which covers all therapeutic areas and technology types.
Alexion will, in accordance with its expertise, focus its selections on programmes that will allow it to develop new treatments for complex and rare diseases. Cincinnati Children’s on the other hand will eligible for development and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties on product sales from Alexion. Primary responsibility for the commercialisation will lie with Alexion. Financial details and the size of the fund remain undisclosed.
Cincinnati Children’s expertise lies in paediatric rare diseases such as HLH, a disorder of the immune system, for which it is currently running the only clinical trial approved by the US National Institutes of Health. Alexion focuses on the development and delivery of therapies for patients with severe and life-threatening diseases. The company was founded in 1992 by Yale University professor Leonard Bell.
Dr Margaret Hostetter, incoming chief medical officer at Cincinnati Children’s and director of Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, said: “As an institution that not only treats and cares for patients suffering from rare diseases but is also intensely interested in discovering potential treatments for them, we look forward to the opportunity to work with a company like Alexion, which brings tremendous expertise and capabilities to the table.”