Preclinical CROs are playing an increasingly vital role in helping to advance drug targets from the discovery phase into development. Partnerships with pharma and biopharma are growing and evolving as sponsors seek out the latest science, drug research technologies, and specialty services.
 
As an example of partnerships becoming more comprehensive, Charles River recently entered a strategic collaboration with Nimbus Therapeutics aimed at advancing new programs in immunology, metabolic disorders and oncology from the discovery phase through to Investigational New Drug (IND) submission.
 
Also, expanding access to the latest technologies is key for Charles River. InSphero AG and Charles River  entered a partnership under which Charles River will leverage InSphero’s 3D cell culture technology to extend its preclinical services using in vitro 3D InSight Tumor Microtissues derived from its existing PDX collection.
 
Additionally, the company has several longstanding partnerships that were recently extended. One is with Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA in the field of respiratory disease under which Charles River provides drug discovery services including medicinal chemistry, ADME/DMPK studies, pharmaceutics, in vitro assays, in vivo models, and safety pharmacology studies, to help identify and test Chiesi’s candidates for preclinical development.
 
Another discovery alliance is with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, where Charles River provides medicinal chemistry, in vitro and in vivo biology, structural biology, and computer-aided drug design to help identify promising candidates for preclinical development.
 
Bill Barbo, corporate executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Charles River Laboratories discusses drug discovery and outsourcing in the preclinical space and how the company is doing business in today’s market –KB
 
Contract Pharma: Where do you see opportunities to further engage existing customers?
 
Bill Barbo: We are fortunate to be operating in a robust business environment that provides us with excellent growth opportunities—both with existing and potential clients. Across the biopharmaceutical industry, we've seen a continued trend toward outsourcing all phases of the drug development process. As a contract research organization (CRO) with an integrated portfolio that spans the drug research process from target discovery through IND submission, we are uniquely positioned to support clients.
 
In 2017 we worked on 80% of all drugs approved by the FDA. Our early Discovery unit brought over 78 development candidates forward for our clients.  We see and develop more molecules, drugs and drug candidates than any one of our clients ever could—this is a value proposition for clients as they continue to increase their engagement with us across our portfolio.
 
We work with a variety of clients across pharma, non-pharma, biotech and academia, and our true power is in our expertise. Our scientific bench and deep industry experience allow us to function as more than just a supplier or vendor—we work with clients as a strategic advisor, with access to a global infrastructure of industry-leading technologies.
 
CP: Are you seeing any new collaboration models with the potential to disrupt traditional outsourcing?
 
BB: Yes! We are seeing trends towards more strategic, integrated partnerships and outsourcing models, as opposed to the more traditional transactional CRO/client relationships. We've focused on broadening our portfolio through strategic acquisitions, the licensing of emerging technologies and continued internal development. Ultimately, this enables us to develop strategic partnerships, meaning that we are working side-by-side with clients, creating tailored solutions and flexible partnering models that allow us to support critical go/no-go decisions in their development pipeline faster and more efficiently then they can do it internally or with any other partner.
 
CP: What is and isn’t working well in partnership models?
 
BB: What’s working well is our approach and focus ondeveloping those more strategic partnership models, built on a highly collaborative, proactive platform, which is dramatically improving both the speed and throughput of drug discovery and development. These partnerships allow us to bring our scientific insight and input to the table, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of outsourcing.