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Pfizer Rare Disease Unit call for Collaborative Drug Discovery Research Proposals
12th February 2016
The Chief Scientist Office in collaboration with the Pfizer Rare Disease Research Unit is pleased to invite a call for collaborative drug discovery research proposals in the area of rare diseases.
The Pfizer Rare Disease Consortium (RDC) is a ground-breaking interaction between Pfizer and leading UK academic institutions.
We are now announcing a call to advance the RDC model into repositioning / repurposing of legacy, clinic ready Pfizer assets for rare diseases. The scope of this call is in two parts:
Repurposing legacy clinical Pfizer assets for rare diseases
Researchers are invited to submit new research proposals to investigate legacy Pfizer assets for the potential treatment of rare disease indications. These compounds have been through safety and toxicity tests but for a variety of reasons (e.g. change in strategic focus or lack of efficacy), have been stopped from further clinical testing in their lead indications. These compounds are now being made available for testing in rare diseases.
Under this interaction it is envisaged that Pfizer would provide access to compound and compound related data / documentation whilst the applicant would develop the preclinical biological data package, provide access to the relevant patient population and lead any ensuing clinical trial.
The list of compounds available through this part of the call are available from your University’s Research Office or NHS R&D Office
Applications to access novel compounds that address additional mechanisms and pathways
Pfizer also has an extensive collection of both small molecules and biologics at all stages of discovery and development which involve many mechanisms and targets.
Many of these targets and mechanisms may be proprietary to Pfizer and or may not have been previously associated with Pfizer in the public domain. Requests at any stage of discovery or development are invited to access these molecules with the intent to identify novel potential treatment options for rare disease indications.
Application
The application process for both parts of the call has been kept simple. Interested researchers should provide their University Research Office or NHS R&D office with a title and brief, non-confidential paragraph (200 words or less) describing the outline of the research proposal. The deadline for proposals is Friday 29th April 2016.
Applicants successful at the triage stage will subsequently be invited to meet with the Pfizer team for a short one to one meeting.
CSO will not accept proposals. However, we are happy to provide information on the call. Please contact Dr Alan McNair at CSO, or Dr Marilyn Robertson at NHS Research Scotland for further information.
