IRIC - Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer

Published on September 24, 2012

The research Institute commercialization centre, IRICoR, licenses two novel cancer targets to the BioPharma leader

Michel Bouvier, CEO of IRICoR, and Anne Marinier, Principal Investigator at IRIC, with some of the members of IRIC’s Medicinal Chemistry core facility who will be responsible for identifying drug candidates for the two projects. The Université de Montréal today announced it has signed a collaborative research and license agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) to extend the existing research collaboration to support two new projects in oncology at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal. According to the agreement, the Institute will aim to design new, more effective anti-cancer treatments based on a novel approach and technology developed at IRIC for targeting the disease pathways.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will fund aspects of the pre-defined research activities for both IRIC programs and will employ its internal resources to supplement IRIC’s activities on the programs. Once drug candidates have been identified, Bristol-Myers Squibb will be responsible for all further development and commercialization. IRICoR will receive milestone payments based on the progress of the research and development of each program, and will be eligible to receive royalties on the sales of any products resulting from the collaboration, sums that will be reinvested to support IRIC’s drug discovery activities.
“At IRIC, we believe that it is by engaging in collaborative research that we will win the battle against cancer. By working with leaders in complementary fields, we can leverage our expertise and accelerate the drug discovery process,” explains Dr. Guy Sauvageau, IRIC Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, “I am therefore delighted to partner with the BioPharma leader Bristol-Myers Squibb to help bring our innovations to market.”
As part of its efforts to stimulate the development of new drugs at IRIC, the Université de Montréal created IRICoR in 2008, a non-profit financed by the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada, whose purpose is to accelerate the drug discovery process by creating value. In collaboration with IRIC’s partners, IRICoR financially supported the projects, incubating them to the stage where Bristol-Myers Squibb committed to extend and broaden its existing long-standing research collaboration with IRIC.
“We are pleased that IRICoR was able to support these two highly innovative projects and thereby garner Bristol-Myers Squibb’s interest”, explains Dr. Michel Bouvier, CEO of IRICoR. “We look forward to continue working closely with Bristol-Myers Squibb to optimize the value of both programs and ensure they advance as quickly as possible towards the clinic.”