On Wednesday, August 22, the leaders of Latvian science and industry – JSC Grindeks and Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis (IOS) – strengthened their long-lasting partnership with a new agreement, to reorient from the individual research projects to the strategic long-term cooperation and to open up new perspective to the drug research and development.
The purpose of the agreement is to make the current partnership of both parties even closer, which will serve for meeting the demand of global pharmaceutical market with more efficiency and productivity, and helping to develop new medications for the improvement of public health.
“Signing the agreement with such experienced and broadly operating partner as Grindeks, is mutual benefit for both the company and our institute which has decades of experience in the development of new medicines. I truly hope the results from our joint cooperation will be visible in a long term not only to the society in Latvia, but also globally,” Osvalds Pugovics, director of IOS noted.
Juris Bundulis, Chairman of the Board of JSC Grindeks, also maintained that cultivating close and productive cooperation in the development field is one of the keystones of the business growth in the pharmaceutical industry.
“The Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis has a team of the world’s top scientists in the field of new drug research. At Grindeks, one of the most experienced pharmaceutical companies in Latvia, we find it essential to team up with excellent local scientists especially, and therefore to keep investments in Latvia which contributes to our country’s economic growth,” Juris Bundulis, Chairman of the Board of JSC Grindeks noted.
At the event, the Chairman of the Council of JSC Grindeks Kirovs Lipmans delivered a speech, while the director of IOS Osvalds Pugovics presented the activities of the institute and cooperation with the industry. The Head of Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Pharmacology of IOS Maija Dambrova presented the most recent history of the joint project of “Grindeks” and the institute. Chairman of the Board of JSC Grindeks Juris Bundulis outlined the company’s perspective of cooperation with scientists, while Deputy Director of the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Department at the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science Dmitrijs Stepanovs presented the state support to the science. Andris Ozols, General Director of the Investment Development Agency of Latvia presented the opportunities of accessible funds for export-capable product development.
The most significant current project managed by Grindeks in cooperation with Latvian scientists is the research of a new drug candidate for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, expected to be the first newly developed medicine in Latvia since the 1980s.
About IOS:
The Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis (IOS) is an academic research institute with a wide partnership network and an outstanding reputation in the global chemistry and pharmacology community. IOS is a member or coordinator of many project consortium funded by the European Commission. The core activity of the institute is the discovery of innovative new medicines, using experience gained in the organic synthesis, medical chemistry and preclinical drug development, particularly, in the fields of anti-cancer therapy, cardiovascular disease and CNS disorders. So far, the research carried by IOS has been successful in the discovery of 18 new drug substances and the development of more than 70 generic drug development methods for the use pharmaceutical industry. Last year, the total IOS research funding exceeded 10 million euros; around 4 million euros of the funds were private funds from the pharmaceutical sector.
