Shire announces research collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital

Shire and Boston Children's Hospital have announced a new collaboration to develop novel paediatric therapies.

Biopharmaceutical company Shire has entered into a three-year research collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital with the aim of developing novel therapies to treat rare paediatric diseases.

Shire will make an upfront payment to Boston Children's and will also have the chance to fund specific research programmes with the potential to produce a candidate drug for development in under three years.

The company will also have an exclusive option to enter into licensing agreements for any products resulting from the collaboration, as well as primary responsibility for any further clinical development and commercialisation activities.

Boston Children's will be eligible to receive development and commercial milestone payments and royalties on any product sales.

Dr Philip Vickers, global head of research and development at Shire HGT, said: "As a leader in rare diseases, Shire is pleased to enter into this innovative collaboration with Boston Children's, which joins together leaders in academia and industry to advance pioneering research from the lab to the clinic."

He added that the collaboration "should enable an acceleration of our discovery and development efforts".
Dr Alan Beggs, from Boston Children's, said he was "excited" by the collaboration's potential.