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Vanderbilt's Neuroscience Unit Operates Like A Biotech

A small drug-discovery shop within Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows how a focused approach can lead to top-notch results in the so-called translational research space. The Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, continues to garner NIH grants as well as milestone-based payments from the biopharma industry via serially inking drug discovery deals centered around one specialized area: addressing brain-linked disorders through the modulation of glutamate receptors.

With many Big Pharma companies cutting back their R&D budgets, tie-ups between academic and industry have become a dealmaking hot spot as drugmakers look for new, and hopefully less expensive, sources of innovation. Some pharmas, most notably Pfizer Inc., are making large-scale, institution-wide bets, setting up innovation centers that exist in close proximity to their academic partners. (See "Back To School: Big Pharmas Test New Models For Tapping Academia," IN VIVO , February 2011 Also see "Back To School: Big Pharmas Test New Models For Tapping Academia " - In Vivo, 1 February, 2011..)

But there is a lot of flux in how industry partners with academia, and sweeping deals that encompass an entire university aren't a prerequisite for success. Indeed, a small drug-discovery...

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