Merck this week launched the California Institute for Biomedical Research, or CalIBR, "a new nonprofit research institute to help academics turn their basic biology insights into drug compounds ready for human tests," Science reports, adding that the pharmaceutical company is contributing $42 million over the first three years, and possibly as much as $90 million over the first seven years, to the institute. The Wall Street Journal adds that CalIBR "will be free to seek alternative funding sources for any projects not licensed by Merck and it plans to access funds from government and non-government sources" and that "revenue derived from licenses will be shared between CalIBR and the collaborating institutions."
The institute will be led by the Scripps Research Institute's Peter Schultz and "will offer academic scientists, around the world, a streamlined, efficient and flexible path for translating their biomedical research into novel medicines," according to a CalIBR statement.