Harbour BioMed (HBM) and Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam announced that they have signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enable a broad range of joint basic, translational and clinical research activities aimed at developing next generation biotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and immunological diseases. The MoU was signed during the official, 40th anniversary celebration ceremony of the Shanghai-Rotterdam Sister City Relationship.
Under the MoU, HBM expects to establish laboratory space in Rotterdam to facilitate scientific collaborations with Erasmus MC investigators across multiple departments. The company and Erasmus MC have established an umbrella CDA to expedite collaboration discussions. In addition, HBM plans to run its Phase I and II clinical trials at Erasmus MC, which will also serve as the base for larger clinical trials across Europe of its growing therapeutic portfolio.
“This MoU will advance the company’s vision of growing its footprint in Europe and provide a foundation for strengthening our scientific and business collaborations with Erasmus MC,” said Dr. Jingsong Wang, Founder, Chairman and CEO of HBM. “Working under the broader umbrella of the MoU will allow a broad range of collaborations between our two organizations to discover breakthrough therapies that can be rapidly developed and tested in clinical trials.”
Professor Ernest J. Kuipers, CEO of Erasmus MC, stated, “This expanded partnership, which builds on the strong, longstanding relationship we have established with HBM, provides a framework for discovering and advancing innovative drugs into clinical trials to address unmet needs of patients with cancer and immunological diseases. Such collaborations between industry and academic institutions like Erasmus MC provide an important avenue for scientists and clinicians to advance basic and clinical science.”
The Mayor of Rotterdam, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, also commented in support of the MoU, “The collaboration between Harbour BioMed and Erasmus MC offers diverse opportunities for the city of Rotterdam as well as for Shanghai: employability, knowledge and a chance of realizing better treatments of certain types of cancers and immune-mediated diseases.”
Harbour BioMed has collaborated with Erasmus MC since its inception in 2016, when the company acquired Harbour Antibodies, an Erasmus MC spin-out commercializing two transgenic mouse platforms for producing fully human antibodies. Since that time, HBM and Erasmus MC have worked closely apply these powerful platform technologies for the discovery of novel therapeutics.