Partnership’s focus is on neglected diseases.
Genzyme and the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) signed a research collaboration to advance treatments for neglected diseases. The partners will initially focus on treatments for malaria.
Scientists from both teams are currently targeting Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, increasingly resistant parasites that cause up to 65% of malaria in India. ICGEB has already begun to identify promising targets, and it is hoped that with Genzyme’s input there could be breakthrough leading to drug compounds effective against malaria.
The research will take place both in ICGEB’s laboratories in New Dehli, India, and in Genzyme’s facilities in Waltham, MA. Under the agreement, scientists from Genzyme and ICGEB are expected to work in each other’s laboratories from time to time. The collaboration includes an unique approach to intellectual property rights, providing ICGEB rights to commercial uses within the field of neglected disease on a royalty-free basis.
