The University of Michigan has established the Renal Pre-Competitive Consortium (RPC2), which includes several pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly and which aims to identify new pharmacological targets for chronic kidney disease using big data analysis. It also serves as a new model for pharmaceutical research and development.
The Renal Pre-Competitive Consortium is led by nephrologist Matthias Kretzler, MD, from the University of Michigan, and brings together subject matter, experts, and scientific leaders of bioinformatics and kidney disease, supported by members of the pharmaceutical industry.
“We have to find ways to bring new therapies to our patients faster,” Kretzler said in a news release. “The Renal Pre-Competitive Consortium gives us the opportunity to combine large-scale clinical and molecular data exploration with the development expertise of the pharmaceutical industry.”
Each member of the consortium will take part in the design of the research strategy and its implementation. One of the primary benefits of the consortium is that each member has access to all molecular networks identified by consortium members, allowing members to apply these networks in their own company’s efforts outside the consortium to develop treatments for chronic kidney disease.
“For AstraZeneca, joining this consortium represents a great step forward in our aspiration to become a leader in the treatment of chronic kidney disease,” said Marcus Schindler, who is the leader of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Innovative Medicines Unit at AstraZeneca. “We believe that knowledge generated in the consortium will lead to an expansion of our portfolio with targets that have a strong patient-based foundation.”
Consortium participants can renew membership annually, and it can be expanded to include new industry participants and pharmaceutical companies.
“I know I speak for the group when I say we’re very excited the Renal Pre-Competitive Consortium will allow us to combine the expertise from both academia and industry in exploring innovative therapies for renal disease,” Kretzler said.