The Centre for Drug Research and Development and IRICoR Come Together to Co-Develop Innovative Made-in-Canada Therapeutics

VANCOUVER, BC and MONTRÉAL, May 14, 2015 /CNW/ - The Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer – Commercialization of Research (IRICoR) at the Université de Montréal (UdeM) and The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) are pleased to announce that they have initiated collaborations on three new cutting-edge drug development projects. These projects, which address areas of high unmet medical need, are being supported by funding from Merck to IRICoR.

These projects are part of the Merck $2M commitment to support British Columbia–Quebec corridor projects between IRICoR and CDRD, both internationally-recognized drug discovery hubs created to accelerate the process of drug development and commercialization here in Canada. CDRD and IRICoR are thereby working together to leverage their existing resources and to reduce risk while catalyzing new opportunities to develop the country's most promising discoveries into game-changing therapeutics for patients.

The projects are :

• Identification of biomarkers and small molecule inhibitors for a novel form of resistance in cancer therapies – Dr. Katherine Borden (Principal Investigator at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at UdeM and Professor at the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology of the Faculty of Medicine, UdeM)
• Screening of specific small molecules as possible future treatments for two types of drug-induced dyskinesia, a debilitating and common side effect of the management of Parkinson's disease – Dr. Daniel Lévesque (Principal Investigator and Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, UdeM) and Dr. Claude Rouillard (Principal Investigator at the CHU de Québec Research Centre, Université Laval and Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of the Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval)
• Hit-to-lead screening and refinement of new small molecule inhibitors of human telomerase to inhibit the growth of cancer tumour cells – Dr. Lea Harrington (Principal Investigator at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, UdeM and Professor at the Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine, UdeM) and Dr. Corey Nislow (Principal Investigator and Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Colombia).

CDRD President and CEO, Karimah Es Sabar commented, "As a national centre, CDRD is committed to building partnerships such as this that bring together complementary expertise and infrastructure. We are pleased to be able to support Canadian researchers across the country, including those throughout Quebec's leading research institutions. By way of these and additional projects currently underway, we are proud to be fostering an effective, dynamic and collaborative drug development environment in Canada."

"IRICoR's contribution to drug discovery originating from Canadian academic discoveries already had a major impact, and we are confident that these new projects will yield innovative therapeutic candidates," commented Michel Bouvier, IRICoR's President and CEO. "The investment by Merck to catalyse the translation of basic research from scientists at IRIC and collaborating centers into drug discovery programs contributes to enrich IRICoR's projects pipeline that will ultimately yield new therapies in a number of indications with high unmet medical need. The partnership with CDRD will further strengthen the role that IRICoR is playing in the drug discovery ecosystem in Canada, and position the country as a source of innovation for the biopharmaceutical industry."

"Merck is proud to support the life sciences community in Canada," said Chirfi Guindo, President and Managing Director, Merck Canada Inc. "We recognize the expertise and world-class research capabilities that the British Columbia–Quebec corridor projects between CDRD and IRICoR have to offer. We believe that collaborative efforts such as this will accelerate R&D productivity and stimulate innovation that will translate into tangible discoveries benefiting patients here and around the world."

About the Centre for Drug Research and Development 

About the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer — Commercialization of Research

About Merck 

About the Université de Montréal 

SOURCE Université de Montréal

Julia White, Manager, Communications, The Centre Drug Research and Development (CDRD), Phone: [phone], [email protected]; Steven J. Klein, Vice-President, Business Development, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer - Commercialization of Research (IRICoR), Phone: [phone], [email protected]