Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has inked a pact with Israel's Technion university to develop anti-cancer drugs.
The subsidiaries of the Mumbai-based drug firm and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have entered into an exclusive worldwide research and license agreement, Sun Pharma today said in a statement.
The agreement aims at the development of a joint project, based on new findings by Nobel laureate Aaron Ciechanover, Gila Maor and Ofer Binah, that can potentially lead to the development of novel anti-cancer drugs, it added.
Commenting on the development, Sun Pharma Senior Vice President, Business Development, Kirti Ganorkar said the collaboration is part of the various initiatives that the company is taking to enhance its specialty pipeline.
"Mutually beneficial partnerships with independent research institutes, especially world renowned institutes, such as the Technion, is our preferred route to bring to the market, innovative products for unmet medical needs," he added.
Ciechanover and Binah said that the collaboration will help them to move rapidly forward with their research.
"We explored several collaboration alternatives, but Sun Pharma's market leadership and its long term commitment have made this collaboration a very high priority for us", they added.
The collaboration is an excellent example of interactions between academic discovery and pharmaceutical companies demonstrating the valuable contribution academic institutions can make in bringing new products to help patients worldwide, Ciechanover and Binah said.
"We sincerely believe this agreement represents the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between the Technion and Sun Pharma", added Ciechanover and Binah.
Sun Pharma is the world's fifth largest specialty generic pharmaceutical company and India's top drug firm. Founded in 1912, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is the oldest university in Israel.
Shares of the company today ended at Rs 1,118.60 apiece on the BSE, down 2.61 per cent from previous close.
