Sanofi-aventis strengthens commitment to ophthalmology through partnership with the Vision Institute

Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced today the official signing of a cooperation agreement between Fovea Pharmaceuticals, its Ophthalmology Division, and the Vision Institute (Institut de la Vision), one of the main eye disease research centers in Europe, for research in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of ocular diseases.

This agreement aims to set up a privileged partnership between sanofi-aventis and the Vision Institute on the model of translational R&D and to strengthen the collaboration of sanofi-aventis with the bodies constituting the Vision Institute, such as the Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC), INSERM, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, and CNRS, the French National Center for Scientific Research.

This research partnership will allow sanofi-aventis to further develop its platform dedicated to ophthalmology, by broadening the range of expertises in promising areas, in order to bring innovative solutions to patients where unmet therapeutic needs remain, particularly in retinal diseases.

Under the terms of this 3-year agreement, sanofi-aventis will be given priority access to the technological platforms of the Vision Institute to conduct research activities and will support research and collaboration projects in particular in the area of regeneration of the optical nerve, vascular biology, inflammation and gene therapy in various eye tissues. Sanofi-aventis will be granted exclusive and worldwide rights to the results of the collaboration. In case of commercialization, sanofi-aventis would pay royalties to the members of the Vision Institute.

“We are very pleased with the signing of this major contract which strengthens the collaboration of our Ophthalmology Division with the research teams of the Vision Institute.”, said Christopher A. Viehbacher, Chief Executive Officer of sanofi-aventis. “This collaboration will encourage the sharing of technical expertise and know-how with the objective to deliver innovative therapies for people with visual impairment and supports our ambition to build a global offer in ophthalmology for patients.”

“The ambition which motivated the creation of the Vision Institute was to bring together in one location scientists from academic and private research to share translational knowledge, from fundamental research to clinical development.”, said Pr. José-Alain Sahel, Director of the Vision Institute. “I am delighted to see this agreement signed as it will give us the means to pursue our work with sanofi-aventis, which becomes our main industrial partner. Even if finding innovative treatments to help patients suffering from difficult-to-treat retinal diseases is particularly challenging, I am convinced that we shall succeed.”

“This agreement is emblematic as it is based on a wide and deep cooperation”, said Pr. Jean-Charles Pomerol, President of the UPMC. “It also underlines UPMC, INSERM and CNRS’ strong commitment to research for the treatment of ocular diseases and the capacity of the Vision Institute to work with leading industrial partners.”