Jubilant Biosys Ltd., a Bangalore-based subsidiary of Jubilant Organosys, has signed a research collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca focused on delivering preclinical drug candidates into AZ’s pipeline. The shared risk-reward collaboration will initially focus on neuroscience.

AZ will own the compounds developed under the collaboration with worldwide development and commercialization rights. Jubilant will be eligible to receive research funding for an initial five-year period. AZ will also pay Jubilant success-based development milestones as well as royalties on global commercialization of any compounds.

Shyam S. Bhartia, chairman and managing director, and Hari S. Bhartia, co-chairman and managing director, of Jubilant Organosys, said, “We are very pleased to partner with AstraZeneca, this collaboration will leverage the innovative capabilities of AstraZeneca and Jubilant Biosys in providing a robust global drug discovery model. Through this partnership, Jubilant is confident of contributing to AstraZeneca’s preclinical portfolio and anticipates significant rewards from successful downstream milestones. This partnership furthers Jubilant’s strategy to be India’s largest provider of innovative and integrated pharmaceutical solutions, enabling the global pharmaceutical industry’s quest to discover affordable innovative medicines.”

Jan Lundberg, executive vice president, Global Discovery, AZ, said, “This collaboration complements our internal capabilities and increases the capacity of our preclinical programs. It is a concrete example of the innovative approaches we are taking to deliver a sustainable discovery pipeline with a lean and agile organization. Ultimately, this will provide us with more shots on goal as we look to sustain a competitive portfolio and provide meaningful medicines to patients.”