Academic Institutions And Regulatory Compliance In The Labs: Why It Matters

Major research institutions and academic centers operate in an increasingly complex global network of scientific collaborators. In recent years, there has been a rising number of partnerships between non-profit research institutes and pharma, driven by cuts to academic research budgets, waning pipelines, and the pharma industry’s emphasis on open innovation. In mid-2015, for example, GSK teamed up with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to form a research institute and a company dedicated to finding a cure for HIV and AIDS. GSK will contribute over $4 million annually over the next five years to launch the research center on Chapel Hill’s campus. According to a 2012 Burrill & Company report, the amount of money being earmarked for partnerships with biotechs had fallen from $22.7 billion in 2011 to $18.9 billion — a loss Burrill attributed to the increasing frequency of academic partnerships.