by Ben Potter
Australian Financial Review
BioCurate, a joint venture of Monash and Melbourne universities for early stage commercialisation of pharmaceutical research, has struck an agreement with global pharmaceuticals giant Novartis to share research and accelerate discoveries of new drugs.
Glenn Begley, chief executive of BioCurate, said the memorandum of understanding would cover a full range of research from the two universities, which snare more than 40 per cent of federal biomedical research grants between them, with an emphasis on areas of special interest to Novartis, such as oncology drugs.
Dr Begley, who started at BioCurate in January after 20 years in the US, said the deal was not exclusive and BioCurate would be free to strike similar arrangements with other pharma giants who are approaching the organisation.
“One of the things that’s been really exciting about BioCurate is the interest that has come from international pharmaceutical companies and VC firms around the world,” he told The Australian Financial Review.
