Academic Pharma submits application to National Growth Fund
Knowledge institutions in the Netherlands are to work together with the pharma and biotech industries to accelerate drug discovery and development. To bridge the ‘lab-to-life’ gap, Leiden University and the LUMC have, as coordinators of Academic Pharma, submitted an application to the National Growth Fund.
Many drug candidates fall by the wayside because knowledge institutions do not possess the infrastructure, knowledge and funds to bring their discoveries to the market. Academic Pharma wants to change this by consolidating the Dutch infrastructure for drugs research and development. This will make it possible to develop drugs that society desperately needs, such as drugs for certain tumours, treatments for rare conditions and new antibiotics.
‘National ecosystem’
Academic Pharma wants to create a national ecosystem for public-private drug development. They are following the successful example of collaboration between Leiden University Medical Center, the Leiden University Faculty of Science and Leiden Bio Science Park. This will ensure that the Netherlands continues to lead the way in international drug research.