Australian-French partnership team up for drug development

The Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) will collaborate with French pharmaceutical company Les Laboratories Servier on research into G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) for a range of indications.

The parties have signed an agreement to partner for an initial three years, in order to jointly conduct drug discovery and preclinical drug development activities aimed at GPCR targets.

GPCRs are proteins found in human cell membranes, and are involved in biological functions including neurotransmission, hormonal regulation and sensory reception.

Potential GPCR targets cover fields including metabolism, cardiology, neurology, rheumatology and oncology.

According to Servier general manager Dr Bernard Machand, “GPCRs have shown promise to be the source of targets for human diseases, however there is still a lot to learn about functional specificity.”

Under the terms of the partnership, a team of researchers will be put to work exclusively on collaborative projects, using MIPS' GPCR technology and knowledge.

MIPS will be entitled to milestone payments for each project, and royalties for any products developed as a result of the collaboration. Servier will in return receive exclusive worldwide rights to the products.