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Exclusive Life Science Feature At the top level, a critical collaboration crosses the traditional line between biologics and small-molecule science. MedImmune and Pangalos' Innovative Medicines group closely coordinate their discovery and development efforts in many areas and indications. "Bahija and I are fully dependent on each other for being successful," says Pangalos. "Our therapy area heads all work together; for example, our respective heads of oncology prioritize their projects together across the oncology pipeline. They also think about product combinations wherever combinations maximize the value of the portfolio. Their partnership and synergy differentiates us from some other companies where it might be more difficult for the small-molecule and biologics developers to share priorities." MedImmune and Pangalos' Innovative Medicines will also be sharing facilities to a greater extent once the Cambridge center is finished. Corporate officers and the commercial team will locate in the R&D; center as well, an arrangement intended to expedite decision making but keep science at the top of the agenda, according to Pangalos. "We'll be surrounding ourselves with scientific excellence from places like the Addenbrooke's Hospital, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cancer Research UK, and the Babraham Institute. There are many top-quality research labs and a vibrant biotech sector there as well, making our whole ecosystem very attractive. Our scientists will be rubbing shoulders with some of the best scientists in Europe, an incredibly exciting proposition for scientific innovation." By sheer reduction of internal personnel along with associated labs and other infrastructure, weighed against a necessarily ambitious R&D; agenda, AZ must obviously rely more on external collaborations for drug discovery and development, mainly with academia and biotech. "I am encouraging my scientists to work with new and different partners across sectors, to speed the translation of good science into innovative medicines," says Pangalos. To illustrate, he says the NIH announced funding on June 18 for a collaborative program that aims to develop new medicines, matching U.S. academic researchers with previously studied compounds. AZ and other pharma companies partnered with the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) by making dozens of their compounds available for In the big world of clinical trials, it's the small stuff that counts. WZƐĞƌǀĞƐĂƐĂƚƌƵĞĞdžƚĞŶƐŝŽŶŽĨŽƵƌĐůŝĞŶƚƐ tĞƚĂŝůŽƌĞĂĐŚƉĂƌƚŶĞƌƐŚŝƉƚŽLJŽƵƌƐŝnjĞ ĐƵůƚƵƌĂůďĂĐŬŐƌŽƵŶĚ ƉŝƉĞůŝŶĞ ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞ ĂŶĚŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶĂůƌĞƋƵŝƌĞŵĞŶƚƐ͘ clearlypra.com >ĞĂƌŶŵŽƌĞ WŚĂƐĞ/ /s &Ƶůů ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞŝŽƉŚĂƌŵĂĐĞƵƟĐĂůƌƵŐĞǀĞůŽƉŵĞŶƚ about our dƌĂŶƐĨŽƌŵŝŶŐůŝŶŝĐĂůdƌŝĂůƐƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ KƵƌWĞŽƉůĞ /ŶŶŽǀĂƟŽŶ dƌĂŶƐƉĂƌĞŶĐLJ ƚĂŝůŽƌĞĚƐŽůƵƟŽŶƐ © PRA 2013. All Rights Reserved. 9.13 September 2013 LifeScienceLeader.com 33