Vancouver, BC (November 28, 2013) –The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) and the Prevention of Organ Failure Centre (PROOF Centre), both inaugural Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECRs) headquartered in Vancouver, are pleased to announce they have entered into a Preferred Collaboration Agreement to work together to advance their common goal of bringing more effective diagnoses and therapies to patients faster.

Through this agreement, CDRD and PROOF Centre will bring together PROOF’s expertise in identifying and developing clinically-relevant biomarker solutions for the clinical laboratory and in support of industry, their computational resource, their repository of plausible drug targets, and molecular signatures of physiological responses and state; with CDRD’s expertise in the development of target- and mechanism-based therapeutics. Both organizations are engaged in different facets of companion diagnostics development.  In aligning, the organizations will synergize their development efforts focused on highly-relevant targets and mechanisms; improved methods for assessing mechanism of actions, therapeutic efficacy, and toxicity of candidate therapeutics; and build companion biomarker panels to advance personalized medicine and improve patient outcomes.

CDRD President and CEO, Karimah Es Sabar commented, “In today’s world of drug development and personalized medicine, diagnostics are a key part of bringing the right novel therapies to the right patients; and we must therefore tailor this development to the optimal benefits of patients. Through the combined efforts and complementary expertise of CDRD and PROOF Centre, we can ensure we are doing just that.”

PROOF Centre CEO, Bruce McManus noted, “There is an enormous need for blood tests with better performance, higher value, and bigger clinical impact than now available. Similarly, the therapeutic industry needs biosignatures that enhance the speed and quality of decision-making in product development. Our exciting partnership will spur this essential direction”.

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About CDRD
CDRD is Canada’s fully-integrated national drug development and commercialization centre, providing expertise and infrastructure to enable researchers from leading health research institutions to advance promising early-stage drug candidates. Its mandate is to de-risk discoveries stemming from publicly-funded health research and transform them into viable investment opportunities for the private sector — thus successfully bridging the commercialization gap between academia and industry, and translating research discoveries into new therapies for patients. Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence Program has recognized CDRD as a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR). www.cdrd.ca

About PROOF Centre
The Centre of Excellence for the Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF Centre) develops actionable blood tests to better predict, diagnose, manage and treat heart, lung and kidney disease. The PROOF Centre is a cross-disciplinary biosignature development engine of partners representing academia, health care, government, industry, patients and the public, to improve heart, lung and kidney health and reduce the enormous socioeconomic burden of organ disease. The centre’s service arm provides expertise in computation, “-omic” science and biomarker workflow to organizations seeking to discover, develop and implement blood-based molecular biomarkers in a clinical setting. The PROOF Centre is a not-for-profit society initially established by the Networks of Centres of Excellence Secretariat under the Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (NCE CECR) Program, and is co-hosted by the University of British Columbia and Providence Health Care in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. www.proofcentre.ca