The UBC Centre for Blood Research (CBR) has partnered with an international investment company and a Chinese biotechnology firm to accelerate the development of new treatments for a variety of diseases.
The CBR signed a memorandum of understanding with Sichuan BoXin LaiTe Biotechnology Inc. and its major shareholder, Heracles International Investment Inc.
L-R: Bob Hancock, Chenguang Jiang (Director of Heracles), Raymond Andersen, Angus Livingstone (University-Industry Liaison Office), Ed Conway (Centre for Blood Research).
The research and development program outlined in the agreement will identify and develop biomedical projects coming out of the centre, and harness the commercial and clinical validation capacity of Heracles and BoXin LaiTe to create novel medical treatments.
This development partnership is the first agreement of its kind between UBC and a Chinese biomedical technology company.
A committee including representatives from UBC, BoXin LaiTe and Heracles will review proposals from the three entities, evaluating them for their potential market demand in China. Approved projects will receive funding for one to five years, with the possibility of extension, and the committee will evaluate each project’s progress.
Two projects have already been selected:
- Bob Hancock, a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology (Faculty of Science) has designed new peptides that control immunity and suppress harmful infections and inflammation. The agreement will enable Dr. Hancock to develop and test these peptides on pre-clinical models of hospital-acquired bacteria, tuberculosis, malaria, arthritis and colitis, with the ultimate goal of creating drugs that can be used as treatments in humans.
- Grant Mauk, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Raymond Andersen, Professor in the Department of Chemistry (Faculty of Science), are testing a new approach to reducing tumour growth and metastatis. They have identified several inhibitors of enzymes that, when blocked, will break down a tumour’s defense against the body’s own immune system. The agreement will enable Dr. Mauk and Dr. Andersen to quickly validate these inhibitors in animal models, and to identify new ones by screening libraries of traditional Chinese medicinal plants.
“We believe the Chinese biotechnology sector can provide enormous intellectual and commercial support to our researchers,” said Ed Conway, Professor in the Department of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Blood Research. “We hope this agreement will provide a template for more relationships with other partners in China.”