AlmirallShare, the open innovation platform of Almirall, S.A. (ALM), is responsible for around 50% of the public-private collaborations driven by Almirall. Since its launch in 2017, more than 850 scientists have shown interest in participating and nearly 350 proposals have been received. Currently, there are six projects ongoing including new collaborations with the School of Biotechnology of Dublin City University, the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), EvoBiotech (spin-off from the University of Turin) and the University of Namur. Additionally, three new collaborative projects are expected to start very soon.
The main objective of AlmirallShare is to facilitate the establishment of collaborations in dermatological research and find innovative solutions for skin health. By putting together the science and creativity of experts around the world and Almirall’s own expertise, AlmirallShare accelerates the generation of new treatments for skin conditions.
“We are very pleased with the results that AlmirallShare has achieved so far. We created this platform with the aim to reach researchers worldwide and establish close successful partnerships with them. Together, we will bring major breakthroughs in the field of medical dermatology and add real value to patients living with severe skin conditions” said Dr. Bhushan Hardas, Executive Vice President R&D, Chief Scientific Officer of Almirall.
AlmirallShare was launched in 2017 as an R&D platform designed to interact with different reference centres in dermatology and advance breakthrough research in this field, offering funding and scientific support to the selected proposals. “We are very excited about the response that this innovation platform has had among the scientific community around the world. AlmirallShare has become an important tool to implement strategic collaborations in Almirall R&D,” has concluded Maribel Crespo, AlmirallShare’s leader.
Four new collaboration projects in 2019
- The collaborative project lead by Dr. M. Freeley and Dr. P. Leonard from the School of Biotechnology of Dublin City University aims to identify novel therapeutic targets on skin-homing T-cells that could be of use for the identification of new treatments for inflammatory skin disorders, such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.
- The Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), through his Principal Investigator Prof. F. Lozano from the immune receptors of the innate and adaptative system group, will work in cooperation with Almirall to analyse the immunomodulatory properties of soluble human CD6 (shCD6) in experimental models of inflammatory skin diseases.
- The partnership with EvoBiotech, a spin-off of the University of Turin lead by Prof. Dr. G. Camussi will assess the use of therapeutic activity of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on atopic dermatitis.
- Researchers led by Prof. Y. Poumay from the Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (Narilis) at the University of Namur (Belgium) are exploring the involvement of novel receptors and signaling pathways in the phenotypic alterations of keratinocytes in atopic dermatitis, investigating their potential relevance for this disease and treatments.
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