AbbVie renews commitment to Structural Genomics Consortium

• Contributes $7.5 million for five-year partnership

MONTREAL, Nov. 18, 2015 /CNW/ - AbbVie today announced its continued commitment to the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) by providing a cash sponsorship of CDA$7.5 million towards open access research leading to the discovery of new medicines. Today`s announcement coincides with meetings with Ontario and Quebec-based research leaders and AbbVie global research and development business development professionals to assess continued investment. 

AbbVie has provided support to the SGC since 2012. The SGC funded research will focus on generating chemical tools and 3-dimensional structures for relatively unexplored classes of proteins such as ion channels, solute carrier channels and those involved in epigenetic regulation.  These tools will then be tested in tissues, such as blood, in order to generate high quality data that will help scientists better understand how these proteins are involved in human diseases.  Immunology and oncology are the current areas of research focus.

"In order for Ontario to thrive as a true hub for research and innovation, we not only need continued partnership between our world-class university and hospital network, but also strong public-private collaborations like what we are recognizing today between AbbVie and the Structural Genomics Consortium. This cutting-edge work will continue to bring tangible economic and health benefits to Ontarians, and I want to thank AbbVie for their contribution and continued commitment to our province," said the Honourable Minister Reza Moridi, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation.

Aled Edwards, Director and CEO of the SGC added: "We are grateful for AbbVie's funding for our open source laboratory and even more delighted that we and our colleagues in the Ontario Institutes, universities and hospitals can continue to collaborate with AbbVie's world-leading scientists for another five years.  This Ontario network is poised to generate unprecedented insights into human biology and drug discovery."

Stéphane Lassignardie, General Manager, AbbVie Canada says: "We are proud to be a part of such a novel and prestigious organization as the SGC. We strongly believe that it is through such collaborative partnerships that we will ultimately help people living with diseases live healthier lives and play an important role in healthcare sustainability. That is our ultimate goal."

About the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC)
The SGC accelerates research in new areas of human biology and drug discovery by making all its research output available to the scientific community with no strings attached, and by creating an open collaborative network of scientists in hundreds of universities around the world and in eight global pharmaceutical companies.  SGC is funded by AbbVie, Bayer Pharma AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Eshelman Institute for Innovation, Genome Canada, Innovative Medicines Initiative, Janssen, Merck & Co., Novartis Pharma AG, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, Pfizer, São Paulo Research Foundation-FAPESP, Takeda, and the Wellcome Trust. For more information, please visit http://www.thesgc.org/.

About AbbVie Canada
AbbVie is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company formed in 2013 following separation from Abbott Laboratories. The company's mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to develop and market advanced therapies that address some of the world's most complex and serious diseases. Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pharmacyclics, AbbVie employs more than 28,000 people worldwide and markets medicines in more than 170 countries. For further information on the company and its people, portfolio and commitments, please visit www.abbvie.ca and www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter or view careers on our Facebook or LinkedIn page.

SOURCE AbbVie

Eileen Murphy, AbbVie Canada, [phone], [email protected]