Turning science into medicine

Our scientific collaborations include:

Cambridge Alliance on Medicines Safety (CAMS)

The CAMS partnership started in 2018 between GSK, AstraZeneca, the MRC Toxicology Unit and the University of Cambridge. Its purpose is to drive innovative partnerships between scientists and physicians in industry and academia with the aim of exploring and improving the predictive accuracy of future experimental safety studies.

Cambridge Centre for AI in Medicine (CCAIM)

CCAIM launched in 2020 with the aim of developing novel artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to revolutionise biomedical science, medicine and healthcare. The original collaboration, which included AstraZeneca and GSK, provided funding for facilities and equipment, as well as co-supervised PhD studentships and events.

Recently re-launched, CCAIM 2.0 involves a wider consortium of pharmaceutical companies alongside the founding partners. It is focused on further developing cutting-edge technologies, industry challenges, PhD studentships and a host of wider training opportunities.

Innovation Centre in Digital Molecular Technologies (iDMT)

The iDMT supports the development of a sustained pipeline of new products and services for digital transformation of chemical synthesis. From the outset, it has operated as an open innovation research centre, initially co-funded by the University of Cambridge, AstraZeneca, Shionogi and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

It has provided support for UK subject matter experts in establishing new products and services to support the digital transformation of the molecular industries, and in exploiting the power of AI and machine learning in molecular sciences, technologies and products.

Milner Therapeutics Consortium

The Milner Therapeutics Consortium currently consists of nine pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca and three academic institutions, University of Cambridge, Babraham Institute and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

The Consortium connects companies with academics across Cambridge, facilitating pre-clinical research collaborations to discover and validate new therapeutic targets, apply novel technologies and better understand disease mechanisms in advanced cellular models across multiple disease areas.

Stem Cell Institute Technology & Innovation Forum (SCI-TIF)

SCI-TIF brings together industry and academic scientists with a shared interest in stem cells and technology to promote discussion, partnerships and translational research opportunities.

As a member of SCI-TIF, AstraZeneca is an active participant in challenge-led and industry-guided events, including hosting workshops and seminars for the Forum.

This includes partnerships on clinical trials of novel medicines, which help turn advances in science into advances in patient care.

AstraZeneca currently sponsors approximately one third of all clinical trials run by pharmaceutical companies at Cambridge University Hospitals.

This includes clinical trials for a variety of cancers – including lung, breast, prostate and gastric – as well as for respiratory and immunologic conditions, cardiovascular and renal conditions, and rare diseases.

Major AstraZeneca-University clinical trial collaborations include:

ASCERTAIN, an innovative study to exploit genetic vulnerabilities in prostate cancer that may pave the way for new treatment approaches.

ATRiUM, a clinical trial to explore a novel investigational medicine in certain patients with advanced solid tumour cancers.

PARTNER, a clinical trial assessing the efficacy of chemotherapy treatments and targeted therapy in gap combination prior to surgery for patients with certain gene mutations.

SERENA-1, a phase I clinical trial evaluating a new potential treatment for certain types of breast cancer, which has led to a phase III clinical trial which is currently underway.

WIRE, a “window of opportunity” clinical trial to evaluate novel treatment strategies in renal cell cancer prior to surgery.