Elsevier has announced that applications and nominations for The Hive, its innovation hub for biotech and pharmaceutical startups, are now open.
The Hive, first launched in 2016, highlights the innovation in the startup biotech and pharma sector. The project offers complimentary access to Elsevier’s suite of research and development solutions for selected biotech and pharma startup companies with each company chosen for its work in early-stage drug discovery and development.
‘We created The Hive in 2016 to highlight the trend in the industry that has seen biotech and pharma start-ups become centers of cutting-edge science. This trend is continuing in 2017 – many of the most promising drug candidates and discoveries in R&D pipelines originate from these early stage companies,’ commented Tamas Szarvas, CMO, corporate research and development, Elsevier’s R&D Solutions. ‘In 2017, The Hive will continue to highlight the fresh, innovative and agile world of R&D that is taking place within startups, and we look forward to welcoming a new group of participants. Additionally, we know that the industry is always looking to learn from these innovation powerhouses, and The Hive offers a far-reaching platform for sharing success stories.’
At least eight start-ups will be chosen this year will be chosen to become part of The Hive, with an unlimited number of places for exceptional candidates. The Hive’s start-ups will receive complimentary access to Elsevier’s suite of digital solutions for 18 months – helping them advance their research, and improve productivity.
‘Elsevier’s solutions contain extensive and detailed information on chemical compounds/structures, visualization of disease mechanisms, metabolomics data, and predictions on drug-drug interactions – all of which are important to further develop our cancer therapies’ explained Dr Claudia McDonald Bøen CEO of Arctic Pharma AS and a 2016 participant in The Hive.
‘A significant challenge for any company developing a broadly applicable platform technology is to quickly gather, assess, and act upon information across the many different diseases and technical areas associated with drug candidate development. Areas of research cover the science and biology of course; as well as IP, clinical, and commercial considerations. But that’s what is great about being part of The Hive. Participation has provided us with an amazing array of resources with which to successfully meet this challenge,’ commented Tom Wickham, vice president, research and development at Rubius Therapeutics, a participant in The Hive 2016.
The top candidates for The Hive 2017 are pre-revenue pharmaceutical and biotech startups, and other small companies, that are actively involved in the advancement of early stage research; with a minimum of ten scientists on staff. Enrolment for The Hive is now open and candidate companies may apply or can be nominated.
