NovAliX and Max Planck join forces to advance Cryo-EM driven drug discovery

Collaboration will make vital process of translating scientific research and academic insights into real therapies more efficient and more effective

07-Mar-2024

NovAliX, a specialized Contract Research Organization dedicated to enabling drug discovery, announces its long-term strategic partnership with the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen. Through this collaboration, NovAliX and the MPI aim to make the vital process of translating scientific research and academic insights into real therapies more efficient. 

NovAliX/Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences

Prof. Dr. Holger Stark, Managing Director at the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences, highlights the potential of this partnership to propel progress and transformative advancements in the field of drug discovery: “The endpoint of fundamental academic research is still considerably distant from the initial stages of drug discovery. Bridging these phases is substantially important; the MPI’s and NovAliX’s complementary expertise will be essential for fostering successful therapeutic development.”  

This partnership will enable crucial early-stage collaboration, fusing the potential of the MPI experts’ groundbreaking discoveries and NovAliX’s award-winning scientists, and streamlining the integration of academic insights into drug development. 

Drawing on two decades of experience in the dynamic biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Denis Zeyer, CEO of NovAliX, underlines the importance of collaborative frameworks between academia and drug discovery: “It is more costly and more risky than ever before to identify and bring new medicines to market. The current model is unsustainable. Bringing academic research deeper into the process can only increase the odds of success for therapeutic opportunities.”

Dr. Zeyer also stresses the significance of relationships cultivated over the years: “As a spin-off of academic institutions, NovAliX places immense value on such connections.” This is exemplified by its longstanding relationship with Prof. Dr. Stark at the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences, as well as by its joint exploration into the field of Cryo-EM.

Contract Research Organizations such as NovAliX have emerged as pivotal players in the drug discovery industry, providing the organizational framework, flexibility, expertise and efficiency required for early-stage pharmaceutical research. This collaboration with the MPI marks their increasing role as active partners in the evolving drug discovery landscape, enabling academic research to help realize therapeutic innovation.

Dr. Ashwin Chari, Head of the Research Group of Structural Biochemistry and Mechanisms at the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences, acknowledges the challenges both in the anti-infectives and oncology fields but stresses his optimism about “translating their discoveries into impactful treatments.” 

Stephan Jenn, NovAliX President and Co-founder, describes the partnership with the MPI as a remarkable opportunity: “to forge a unique alliance that contributes not just to European, but global, scientific development. Involving the best minds from academia and drug development and discovery can only make for better science, better outcomes and better answers.”

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