Sanofi and the Institut Pasteur
announced the creation of the Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Awards to encourage
scientific excellence in the service of health. Four hundred and eighty
thousand euro (480,000 €) will support four innovative research projects
demonstrating real progress in the life sciences and providing answers to major
healthcare problems, more specifically in four fields: neglected tropical
diseases, vaccine innovation, drug resistance, and therapeutic approaches to
ageing and regenerative medicine.
The jury is composed of seven prestigious members: Prof. Peter C. Agre,
John Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2003, Prof. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, University of California, San Francisco,
Nobel Prize in Medicine 2009, Prof. Pascale Cossart, Head of the Bacteria-Cell
Interactions Unit, Institut Pasteur, Prof. Alice Dautry, President of the
Institut Pasteur, Prof. Depei Liu, Vice President of the Academy of Engineering
of China and President of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the
Peking Union Medical College, Dr Robert Sebbag, Vice President, Access to
Medicines, Sanofi, and Dr Elias Zerhouni, President, Global R&D, Sanofi.
"With these awards, the Institut Pasteur confirms its commitment to
the greater interest by encouraging research, notably in conditions affecting
the most vulnerable populations and diseases sharply on the rise in the world,”
said Alice Dautry, President of the Institut Pasteur.
"I am enthusiastic about this collaborative endeavour with the
Institut Pasteur which will promote and support research teams capable of
making a real difference in the lives of patients and in key areas of public
health," said Elias Zerhouni, President, Global R&D of Sanofi.
"The Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Awards follow a long-standing partnership
between our two organizations."
Candidates can submit their applications by April 20, 2012. The prices will
be awarded in November 2012 at the Institute Pasteur in Paris. For further
information: www.sanofiinstitutpasteur-awards.com
Sanofi and the Institut Pasteur have a long history of partnership which
reflects Louis Pasteur philosophy which states that "Pure research and
applied research are not separate entities. Research and its applications are
united together as the fruit of the tree is united with the branch that bears
it."
The first partnership emerged through the establishment of the dedicated
fund "Fighting Parasitic Diseases" which led to the creation of new
research teams. Today, Sanofi also sponsors the Center for Integrative Biology
of Emerging Diseases (BIME) and collaborates with the Institut Pasteur in the
development of new vaccines against infectious diseases.