Pfizer Inc. announced that seven major research-based medical centres in New York City, including Rockefeller University, NYU Langone Medical Centre, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, The Mount Sinai Medical Centre, Columbia University Medical Centre, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Weill Cornell Medical College, have joined Pfizer’s Centres for Therapeutic Innovation, a network of partnerships that aims to speed the translation of biomedical research into life-saving medicines. The first Centre was established in November of last year at the University of California, San Francisco.

Additionally, Pfizer has signed a lease at the Alexandria Centre for Life Science, providing the company with research space to facilitate its New York City-based collaborations. The Alexandria Centre, the first and only life science park in New York City, is home to a number of top-tier research organizations and leading life science entities. Its office and laboratory space encourages collaboration and is ideally located to facilitate close working relationships between Pfizer and its academic partners.

“Pfizer’s decision to bring its Centres for Therapeutic Innovation programme to New York City is the latest affirmation of the City’s excellence in biomedical research and prominence as a centre for innovation,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “Pfizer has called New York City home for more than 160 years, and its presence at the state-of-the-art Alexandria Centre for Life Science, together with its new partnerships with some of the City’s top academic medical centres, will help keep it at the forefront of discovery.”

“When I gave my strong support to the creation of the Alexandria Centre for Life Science, it was clear to me that this project was the kind of bold, innovative work that could done there. The Centre for Therapeutic Innovation will be capable of significantly elevating New York’s global standing as a centre for bioscience advancement and opportunity. I commend Pfizer’s commitment to the Alexandria Centre and to our state’s leading research institutions. Pfizer’s decision to invest considerable resources into this initiative will hopefully produce the great medical breakthroughs of tomorrow and help us conquer our most persistent diseases,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said.

The Centres for Therapeutic Innovation partnerships mimic a venture capital-funded biotechnology start-up, whereby Pfizer funds pre-clinical and clinical development programs, offers equitable intellectual property and ownership rights to support continued experimentation and exploration, as well as broad rights to publication. Investigators will have access to Pfizer’s proprietary antibody libraries and advanced research tools along with technical support. Successful programs that advance to commercialization by Pfizer will be subject to license terms which will include milestone payments and royalties.

“New York City is home to a wealth of world-class biotechnology resources, including academic medical centres that have been on the leading edge of translational research – making it an ideal place to establish partnerships for our Centres for Therapeutic Innovation. Together with these outstanding academic medical centres we will more effectively delve into the deep science of disease with the goal of developing novel targets that can be applied to meet patients’ needs,” said Anthony Coyle, PhD, head of Pfizer’s Global Centres for Therapeutic Innovation. “Success and advancements occur when the best minds are working in unison and the Alexandria Centre’s prime location and world-class lab space will serve as the perfect location to house this new partnership.”

Pfizer’s Centres for Therapeutic Innovation represents a shift in how the pharmaceutical industry will drive innovation and help patients in coming years. By enriching the discovery and development process and increase the quality of clinical trials, this program will allow more data-rich and informative human studies.