News | The Institut de la Vision and Iris Pharma Join Forces

The Institut de la Vision and Iris Pharma Join Forces to Strengthen the Bond between the Private and Public Sectors, and between Industry and Academic Research.

 

Nice, France - July 3, 2008 - The Institut de la Vision, a research center exclusively dedicated to eye diseases, has been the industry's benchmark on vision-related issues since its opening in March 2008. Consequently, it attracts a large number of industrialists looking to test the therapeutic effectiveness of their molecules intended to fight blindness. Thus, Iris Pharma took the logical step of joining forces with the Institut, with several objectives in mind: encourage industrial/academic cooperation, develop research programs and adapt certain specific procedures to the industrial field.
"Iris Pharma found it natural to become involved in a project of such scope and so promising in terms of research and advances in eye diseases. It was natural for our company - a specialist in preclinical studies and clinical trials in ophthalmology - to become one of the Institut de la Vision's preferred partners," said Dr. Pierre-Paul Elena, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Iris Pharma. 


With close to 20 years of experience in ophthalmology, the French Contract Research Organization (CRO) of international renown has a unique proficiency and knowledge of all the stages involved in developing eye medication: formulation and research in vivo, Phase I to IV clinical trials, medico-marketing surveys, etc. Iris Pharma has already gained the trust of the largest pharmaceutical laboratories and of the most up-to-date biotechnology companies. 


In the context of the joint cooperation with the Institut de la Vision, Iris Pharma's main task will be to act as a link between the academic and industrial sectors in order to implement new industrial partnerships and reinforce the continuum from the stage of the underlying research through to treatment of visually impaired patients. 


In the second phase, Iris Pharma will develop research programs in collaboration with the Institut de la Vision, mainly for the purpose of offering new services and industrial innovations to its clients. 


Guaranteeing high quality, competitive services in call to tender procedures are also part of the assignments entrusted to the company, for example, implementing industrial standards in the Institut de la Vision's technical support center that comply with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). 


"Concluding industrial partnerships is essential for discoveries made in academic research to rapidly give rise to available treatments for patients. Iris Pharma's support for the development of this activity is thus a valuable asset for the Institut," explains Professor Sahel, Director of the new Institut. 
In order to bring these various activities to fruition, Iris Pharma will have its own premises in the Institut de la Vision building. Dr. Mustapha Benchaboune, Medical Director of Iris Pharma and a practitioner who specializes in retinal pathology and works as an expert for the French health authorities, will be the CRO's local representative with the Institut de la Vision. 


Iris Pharma will participate in the Steering Committee that will define the strategic directions of this cooperation, in order to identify the mutual research programs to be developed and to suggest and design service provision offers adapted to the expectations of the ophthalmology market. 

About Iris Pharma
Iris Pharma is an independent French CRO that specializes in preclinical and clinical research in the field of ophthalmology. Since its foundation in 1989 Iris Pharma has been offering its services and experience to the development of ophthalmic drugs and ocular medical devices to the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology companies, and research Institutes around the world. The company, whose main services comply with Good Laboratory and Clinical Practice, has five main areas of activity: bio-analysis, pre-formulation, preclinical studies and services (proof of concept studies, pilot studies, regulatory studies, applied research), clinical trials (Phase I and IV and medico-marketing surveys) and strategic consulting.

For more information, see: https://www.iris-pharma.com 

About the Institut de la Vision
The Institut de la Vision is the largest European research center dedicated exclusively to vision (Inserm center / Paris VI). Opened in March 2008 in the Centre Hospitalier National d'Ophtalmologie (CHNO) des Quinze-Vingts, in Paris, it encompasses a biomedical research center (divided into four departments: Developmental Biology, Genetics, Low-Level Vision, Therapy), the Clinical Research Center of the CHNO des Quinze-Vingts (phase I to III clinical trials according to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and the guidelines in force) and a dozen major industrialists (Allergan, Essilor, Thea, Fovea Pharma, Novartis, Servier...).

 

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