Charles River Laboratories International will provide discovery and preclinical development services to BioMotiv, and invest up to $10 million in the accelerator, under a strategic partnership disclosed today.
Charles River will become the preferred drug discovery and preclinical development partner for BioMotiv through the partnership—designed to help the accelerator translate discoveries from portfolio companies formed to commercialize technologies sourced from academic research and nongovernmental organizations.
“We look forward to our partnership with BioMotiv, and the opportunity to contribute to its mission of accelerating academic discoveries into novel therapeutics,” Julie Frearson, executive director of scientific alliances for Charles River, said in a statement.
Frearson will join BioMotiv’s Advisory Board as part of the partnership.
Launched in 2012, BioMotiv is the for-profit accelerator of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, a $250 million effort focused on commercializing drugs developed by physician scientists throughout the U.S. and U.K. The project is centered at University Hospitals, and also includes the not-for-profit Harrington Discovery Institute.
According to its website. BioMotiv has six portfolio companies, of which two have partnerships with biopharma giants—Orca Pharmaceuticals, which last year inked an up-to-$122.5 million autoimmune disease alliance with AstraZeneca, and Dual Therapeutics, which in January teamed up with Bristol-Myers Squibb in an up-to-$255 million-plus cancer collaboration.
“Access to Charles River’s extensive portfolio of services offers distinct scientific and operational advantages, which we believe will significantly accelerate the development of breakthrough medicines,” BioMotiv CEO Baiju R. Shah added.
