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Financial Review Schering joins in Victorian neurobiology research Bill Pheasant 16/07/2001 The Victorian Government will today announce a $25 million funding deal by German drug giant Schering AG for a new biotechnology collaboration, Neurosciences Victoria (NSV). NSV is a consortium from three of Melbourne's main biomedical precincts with research institutes in the area of neurobiology, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia, stroke recovery and multiple sclerosis. The commercial support for Victoria's biotech push is the latest in a series of national initiatives that include plans by Victoria and Queensland to build a $150 million synchrotron for drug development and rivalry between the States for investment in biotech. The NSV funding, in 10 projects for up to five years, will be one of the global pharmaceutical company's largest R&D arrangements, says Schering Australia CEO Mr John Dammery. "I honestly believe that this brings together powerful resources that, working in synergy, will advance the availability of new treatments for a number of debilitating neurological conditions," Mr Dammery said. In April, Schering AG, which had sales of about $7.5 billion last year, pledged DM1 million a year to kick-start a European Neuroscience Institute in Germany. Dr William Hart, CEO of NSV, said the ageing population, the Human Genome Project and increased computer processing were driving major advances in the neurobiology. Dr Hart said Australia had a "bad track record" of translating research discoveries into commercial benefits, and the deal with Schering would provide cash flow for the development of the NSV research collaboration. Monash Medical Centre's head of neurology, Professor Malcolm Horne, said the Victorian Government had put $13 million into the new institute, including $7 million for new leading-edge technologies, for example in proteomics, to be shared by a range of researchers. Intellectual property issues were dealt with by NSV, with companies such as Schering able to enter licensing deals on discoveries rather than gaining ownership of patents, enabling more commercial value to be retained in Australia, he said. Neurobiology would be a key growth area in medical science, with about a quarter of all medical research in the field of neuroscience and degenerative conditions. "Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and MS are all on the threshold of being understood and unravelled," Professor Horne said. NSV will incorporate neurological science researchers at Melbourne University, Monash University, the Austin Hospital, the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute and the Howard Florey Institute. SOURCE: Financial Review http://afr.com/australia/2001/07/16/FFXNDPAP5PC.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn