Novartis Invests in UK’s Largest Health Research Program

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Innovative medicines company, Novartis, has announced it is the first in a new round of industry members to join Our Future Health, which is a health research program based in the United Kingdom aimed at improving the understanding of major health conditions.

As a member, Novartis is providing Our Future Health with funding worth £12.5 million (US$15.7 million), which will be used to help the research program achieve its goals of discovering and testing more effective approaches for the prevention, earlier detection, and treatment of diseases. In addition to providing investment, Novartis, along with other industry members, will have the opportunity to collaborate with academics and other health organizations so that greater scientific knowledge can be gleaned.

“Tackling the biggest causes of disease requires joint action from across society, and so we’re delighted to welcome Novartis as an Our Future Health Industry Partner,” said Professor Sir John Bell, chair of Our Future Health, in an April 3, 2024 press release (1). “Combining our shared expertise and knowledge, alongside strategic investment and engagement in the life sciences, will help the UK become a world-leader in the early detection, prevention, and treatment of diseases.”

“Our Future Health has been established to help people live longer, healthier lives through research into new ways to prevent, detect, and treat disease. Collaboration and support from Novartis will help us to achieve that mission,” added Raghib Ali, OBE, CEO and chief medical officer of Our Future Health, in the press release (1). “We’re very grateful for all the engagement and support we have received from multiple sectors, including the life sciences industry, the NHS [National Health Service], and medical charities, which will ultimately enable patients to benefit from our groundbreaking research.”

“Partnering with Our Future Health, the UK’s largest ever health research program, allows us to bring our expertise and knowledge into a world-leading scientific resource,” stated Gerrit Zijlstra, country medical head and chief medical officer for Novartis UK and Ireland, in the press release (1). “To ensure the success of future research programs, Novartis will continue to champion the case for improvements to the Government’s approach to life sciences.”

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Our Future Health and working with them to achieve our global research ambitions for the benefit of patients worldwide,” emphasized Fiona Marshall, president, Biomedical Research at Novartis, in the press release (1). “This announcement, alongside our recently announced partnership with Isomorphic Labs, reflects our ongoing commitment to world-class and pioneering science to address the biggest clinical and public health challenges in the UK and beyond.”

In January 2024, Novartis entered into a strategic research collaboration with Isomorphic Labs—a digital biology company—targeted at discovering small-molecule therapeutics against three targets (2). Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis paid Isomorphic Labs $37.5 million upfront and will fund other research. Isomorphic Labs is focused on the using artificial intelligence (AI) and computational methods to advance drug discovery and is developing a new iteration of AlphaFold, which is an AI system that has solved the issue of protein-folding.

References

1. Novartis. Largest Ever UK Health Research Programme to Benefit from Novartis’ Multi-Million Pound Investment. Press Release, April 3, 2024.

2. Isomorphic Labs. Isomorphic Labs Announces Strategic Multi-Target Research Collaboration with Novartis. Press Release, Jan. 7, 2024.

Source: Novartis