Yale and Gilead Extend Sequencing Initiative

After having already sequenced thousands of cancer genes in projects together, the Yale School of Medicine and Gilead announced they will continue their partnership to find therapeutic candidates for cancer for an additional three years. The original agreement was forged in 2011 and can be renewed for up to 10 years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gilead will provide $30 million more in funding for research support, and in return, will get licensing rights for any inventions that result from the collaboration. The goal of the work is to discover novel targeted therapies, especially for patients who have developed drug resistance to first-line therapies. Of particular interest is the discovery of a single therapy that could be used in multiple different cancers.

“The pace of scientific exchange and innovation spurred by our work together is unlike anything I have seen before," remarked Joseph Schlessinger, PhD, William H. Prusoff Professor, chair of the Department of Pharmacology, and director of the Cancer Biology Institute at Yale West Campus, in a press release. "If our accomplishments over the past three years are any indication, we are confident that our future endeavors will significantly advance our current understanding and treatment of cancer."