Jul 30 2007
Abraxis BioScience, Inc., an integrated, global biopharmaceutical company, and the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA have announced a partnership designed to collaborate on early research in nanobiotechnology for the advancement of new technologies in medicine.
Abraxis BioScience will collaborate with the CNSI and its team of leading researchers to capitalize on the explosion of scientific insight and create the future of nanotechnology within biotechnology. Abraxis has agreed to contribute $10 million over ten years to fund collaborative projects in the new CNSI building at UCLA. The Abraxis/CNSI Research Collaboration Lab space will focus on “translational science,” where scientific discovery is intended to quickly be translated into practical application.
Abraxis BioScience has joined the CNSI Partners Program and is the Institute’s first partner in the area of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The partnership provides CNSI and Abraxis researchers the opportunity to jointly pursue innovative approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening diseases, leveraging the complementary resources and skills of both organizations. To further support the partnership, visiting scholars from other institutions will also be participating in the collaborative research programs.
“We are very excited about this research collaboration with the CNSI and believe this type of relationship emphasizes our commitment toward pursuing innovative research and forging new paradigms of drug discovery and personalized drug development,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Abraxis BioScience. “This relationship allows both organizations to gain access to important research that may have the potential to change the way diseases are treated.”
“We are eager to collaborate with Abraxis BioScience. Cross-disciplinary collaboration is vital to our research efforts,” said Dr. Fraser Stoddart, Director of the CNSI and Fred Kavli Chair of NanoSystems Sciences at UCLA. “The exciting thing about nanosystems research is that it is bringing about a sea change in the academic environment – it is breaking down the barriers between disciplines to achieve a seamless integration between chemistry, physics, biology and engineering in all of their different forms.”
“Abraxis has an established history of developing innovative technology,” said Dr. Leonard H. Rome, Associate Director of the CNSI and Senior Associate Dean for Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. “We are confident they will be a strong and committed partner in furthering important research and the development of drugs to treat life-threatening and debilitating illnesses.”