Servier and BioCurate to collaborate on new drug discoveries

05 Aug 2019

French pharmaceutical company Servier Group, through its Australian subsidiary, and Australia’s BioCurate will share commercial and scientific expertise to accelerate the discovery of new therapeutics and drugs.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding under which they will work together to advise on and assess new therapeutic candidates arising from BioCurate’s academic partners.

BioCurate is a joint venture company of Monash University and The University of Melbourne, with support from the Victorian Government. The company engages with industry and investors to ensure projects receive expert advice and assessment throughout the drug discovery process, with the aim of increasing the number of investment-ready projects.

Servier is one of the first pharmaceutical companies to sign an agreement with BioCurate to share expertise and accelerate discoveries of new drugs. Servier has been operating in Australia since 1979, and opened an International Centre for Theraupetic Research in Melbourne in 1999, its first outside of Europe.

‘We are excited by the opportunity to create synergies between Servier’s scientific expertise and capabilities and BioCurate’s know-how in improving the quality of early-stage research for a successful translation into therapeutic solutions for the benefit of patients,’ says Pedro Crisanto, Director Servier International Centre for Therapeutic Research Australia & New Zealand.

‘Australia has ranked fifth in the Scientific American Worldwide scorecard three years running. Alongside BioCurate, Servier aims to translate this exciting science into improved health outcomes for patients around the world.’

BioCurate’s location in the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct – a cluster of hospitals, research institutes, and biotech organisations – provides Servier with easy access to a thriving, world-class biomedical ecosystem.

Headquartered in Suresnes, France, Servier is a pharmaceutical company with operations in 149 countries. It reinvests 25% of its income into research and development.