Sun Pharmaceutical and the Technion - Israel institute of technology, have announced that their respective subsidiaries have entered into an exclusive worldwide research and license agreement.

This agreement aims at the development of a joint project, based on new findings by Nobel Prize laureate professor Aaron Ciechanover, Dr Gila Maor and professor Ofer Binah, that can potentially lead to the development of novel anti-cancer drugs. The pre-clinical research was funded thus far by Dr Alfred Mann.

"We are very excited about this new endeavor between Sun Pharma and the Technion. We are confident that this collaboration will help us move rapidly forward with our research. We explored several collaboration alternatives but Sun Pharma's market leadership and its long term commitment have made this collaboration a very high priority for us," said Professors Ciechanover and Binah.

"The Technion is delighted to partner with Sun Pharma to advance this project through pre-clinical development process. This collaboration is an excellent example of interactions between academic discovery and pharmaceutical companies demonstrating the valuable contribution academic institutions can make in bringing new products to help patients worldwide. We sincerely believe this agreement represents the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between the Technion and Sun Pharma," they added.

"This collaboration is a part of the various initiatives that Sun Pharma is taking to enhance its specialty pipeline. Mutually beneficial partnerships with independent research institutes, especially world renowned institutes, such as the Technion, is our preferred route to bring to the market, innovative products for unmet medical needs," said Ms Kirti Ganorkar, senior vice-president, business development, Sun Pharma.