-Bayer and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) announced that they have entered a strategic five-year collaboration agreement to advance innovative therapies from target identification through Investigational New Drug (IND) application. The agreement spans across all indications currently pursued by Bayer, initially focusing on cardiovascular and kidney diseases, two therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical need.

The collaboration will leverage VUMC’s resource platform, including its comprehensive datasets hosted in Vanderbilt’s BioVU collection of DNA and Plasma to enable data-driven insights and to accelerate discovery and development. It will combine Bayer’s expertise in drug discovery and translational sciences with VUMC’s deep preclinical and clinical knowledge.

“This collaboration exemplifies our shared vision to harness cutting-edge science and real-world data to bring innovative treatments to patients faster,” said Juergen Eckhardt, M.D., Head of Business Development and Licensing at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. “Collaborating with VUMC underscores our commitment to advancing precision medicine and fostering partnerships that integrate world-class research capabilities with industry-leading development expertise.”

“VUMC has many internationally recognized research faculty along with deep and unique data resources that enable pharmaceutical discovery and development,” said Ken Holroyd, M.D., holder of the Brock Family Directorship for Applied Innovation and Vice President for Tech Transfer at VUMC. ‘‘We are delighted to enter this new and important collaboration with Bayer. We will complement Bayer’s expertise to fulfill our mission to convert research into impactful new treatments for patients.”