Pfizer is trying to breathe new life into old drugs through what it is describing as a first-of-a-kind collaboration between academia and industry. The pharmaceutical giant said it has agreed to give scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis access to information regarding more than 500 pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical candidates as part of a partnership that seeks to find new uses for existing compounds.

Under the five-year agreement, Pfizer will provide $22.5 million to Washington University and give its scientists access to research data on a large array of Pfizer pharmaceutical candidates that are currently or were formerly in clinical testing. The agreement is unusual because it calls for Pfizer to share proprietary data on its compounds with the university researchers, something pharmaceutical companies do not typically do.

Pfizer says that as scientists better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying diseases and the role genetic variation plays in patients’ responses to drugs, the potential to find new uses for these compounds grows.

“There are two realities in drug discovery,” says Don Frail, chief scientific officer of Pfizer's Indications Discovery Unit. “The majority of candidates tested in development do not give the desired result, yet those drugs that do succeed typically have multiple uses. By harnessing the scientific expertise at this leading academic medical center, the collaboration seeks to discover entirely new uses for these compounds in areas of high patient need that might otherwise be left undiscovered.”

The partnership, says Pfizer, creates the opportunity to develop drug compounds more efficiently. By sharing its data on existing compounds, the company says researchers will be able to cut years off the time needed to develop a drug by not have to replicate extensive pre-clinical studies.

To encourage the exchange of ideas, Pfizer's Indications Discovery Unit has developed an online portal through which certain Washington University investigators will have access to information about Pfizer's proprietary compounds, including extensive clinical and preclinical data. The compounds have been extensively studied and their mechanisms of action are well-understood. An advisory committee composed of scientists from both Washington University and Pfizer will evaluate proposals for new research that have been co-written by University and Pfizer researchers.

To facilitate the collaboration, Pfizer's Indications Discovery Unit is moving its laboratories from Chesterfield, Mo., in suburban St. Louis, to the Center of Research Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange biosciences district, in the heart of St. Louis' growing biotech corridor, adjacent to Washington University School of Medicine.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for both partners,” says Jeffrey Gordon, director of the University's Center for Genome Sciences, who worked closely with Pfizer on the new agreement. “It leverages the complementary strengths and interests of both Washington University and Pfizer.”