WILMINGTON, Del. and CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca and the University of Virginia (UVa) in Charlottesville, today announced that they have entered into a strategic research collaboration to enhance development of new treatments primarily for coronary artery disease (CAD) with a secondary focus on peripheral vascular disease (PAD).
The collaborative preclinical research projects will focus on identifying disease mechanisms and biological targets that have the potential to be starting points for successful and commercially viable treatments of these diseases, both major causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The traditional nonsurgical approach to managing CAD has been through treatment of risk factors such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and others. New and innovative approaches, which act directly on the disease in the vessel wall to slow the progression of, regress, or stabilise the atherosclerotic plaque, could be important, especially when linked to novel biomarkers of vulnerable plaque.
Gary Owens, Director of UVa’s Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center and UVa Principal Investigator of the AstraZeneca-UVa Alliance said: “We are very pleased to join AstraZeneca in advancing the science of cardiovascular research. Our partnership has the potential to greatly speed up the development of novel drugs to treat diseases in several targeted areas, taking these projects years ahead in some cases.”
“We found a happy convergence of leadership styles between AstraZeneca and UVa in our shared philosophy of risk-taking, outcomes focus, and collaboration-based research.”
Editor’s notes:
To learn more about the collaboration from AstraZeneca, please click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYURyy1lbLI
About The University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is distinctive among institutions of higher education. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, the University sustains the ideal of developing, through education, leaders who are well-prepared to help shape the future of the nation and world. The Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Virginia supports interdisciplinary research in basic, translational and clinical cardiovascular sciences, including cardiovascular development, function, pathophysiology, pharmacology, genetics, genomics and proteomics.
CONTACT: Bish Niewola, AstraZeneca (UK), +44-788-411-4974,
bish.niewola@astrazeneca.com, or Andrea Conners, AstraZeneca (USA),
+1-302-885-7652, andrea.conners@astrazeneca.com, or David Foreman,
University of Virginia, +1-434-924-2242, DAF4N@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu
Web site: http://www.astrazeneca-us.com/
