AstraZeneca inks neuroscience collaboration with Lieber Institute

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has entered into a two-year research collaboration with the USA-based Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) to use genetics and stem cell biology to discover new drugs for neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

This collaboration, financial terms of which were not disclosed, brings LIBD’s expertise in human genomics, stem cell biology and informatics together with AstraZeneca’s expertise in neuroscience drug discovery to define new approaches to treating diseases of the brain.

Under the terms of the accord, AstraZeneca neuroscientists will work closely with LIBD researchers to identify and validate new drug targets and enhance approaches in patient segmentation to support new drug development. Researchers will have access to LIBD’s extensive brain sample-based data set, which includes more than 1000 post-mortem brain samples, DNA samples and brain imaging data from patients, family members and control volunteers.