Roche announced today the launch of a new R&D Institute
in France
under the lead of the company’s Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED)
unit. The pRED French R&D Institute will be fully dedicated to
collaborative translational research and medicine, with the objective to build
in-depth strategic partnerships with leading French academic centers in areas
of mutual interest.

The Institute will serve as the single entry-point for
academic collaborations in France
across multiple disease areas and scientific disciplines: oncology,
neurosciences, metabolism, inflammation, virology, translational research and
toxicology.

“We are committed to establishing robust collaborations in
France, which ranks among the leading nations in life-science research, with
internationally recognized experts and a fantastic innovation potential,” comments
Jean-Jacques Garaud, Global Head of pRED at Roche.” The pRED French
R&D Institute will enable us to work hand-in-hand with France’s
world-class scientists in a common objective: accelerating the translation of
early scientific discoveries into innovative and personalized treatments for
patients.”

With the French R&D Institute, Roche adds another piece
to its network of external “hubs”, joining academic collaborations established
in Singapore, Switzerland with Basel
and Geneva, and the Netherlands. Those
multidisciplinary collaborative models with multiple investigators and
universities aim at more rapidly advancing biomedical research from the lab to
the patient.

The pRED French R&D Institute will be managed by a
dedicated Roche academic alliances group. This multidisciplinary team will be
in charge of building new research networks with leading French academic
partners, leveraging their expertise, novel technology platforms and scientific
breakthroughs in areas of high unmet medical need.

“Our objective is to accelerate the development of new
therapeutic solutions that will benefit to public health – and above all, to
the patients,” explains Roche Pharma France CEO Sophie Kornowski-Bonnet.
“Through this network of strategic collaborations with best-in-class French
academic centers, we, at Roche, intend to leverage the fantastic innovation
potential of France
and progress towards our mission to deepen our understanding of life sciences.”