AstraZeneca to form Apollo Therapeutics Fund with other industry leaders and universities

AstraZeneca has joined with GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson to collaborate with three world-class universities to start the Apollo Therapeutics Fund.

These three companies will be working with Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge and the University College London to develop innovative medicines based on academic sciences designed to combat a variety of diseases.

The universities will take the medicines to pre-clinical trials, which will then be moved along to the development stage with the help of the Apollo Therapeutic Fund. Once in the development stage, the three companies involved will be able to bid internally on the projects in order to move forward with production. If none of the companies decide to bid on the products, they will be out-licensed. Each company will give £10 million to the fund over a six-year period. They will also offer knowledge and resources.

The fund will employ scientists who have previous experience in the industry to aid the universities in the early stages of their projects, giving them a better chance to move forward in the development stages. Representatives from each of the companies will make up the Apollo Investment Committee, which will make decisions on investments.