Small molecules, peptides, cell and gene therapies – today, we have a wide range of modalities and technologies at hand to create the next generation of innovative medicines. In fact, the opportunities have become so diverse that a mid-size company can hardly provide all capacities in-house that are needed to make optimal use of each of them. That's why Grünenthal works with a flexible outsourced R&D model that allows us to network with highly specialised partners while focusing on our core competence: expertise in the therapeutic area of pain. This enables us to create new pain medicines in a modality-agnostic manner – our scientists use their expertise to identify and validate a new pain target and the best modality to address it. Then, they carry out the project with one of our highly specialised partners to tap into their expertise in the respective area.

Strategic collaborations create added value

In our Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) division, such a project has just been successfully completed for an early development project. Our partner Lonza succeeded in creating a practical manufacturing route for one of our proprietary small molecules in preclinical development. During the project, the overall yield of the medicinal chemistry synthesis could be significantly increased. At the same time, the synthesis process could be streamlined, optimised and scaled up to create larger outputs. Lonza delivered the project on time and to specifications, among others meeting early phase GMP standards. A detailed development report provides the basis of the documentation required for the regulatory application moving forward.

Together for a world free of pain

This example shows the added value we create by through strategic collaborations. While our experienced CMC project leaders and scientists focus on strategic and scientific oversight, specialised partners like Lonza's global team of experts provide us with their specific expertise and infrastructure to find the best solution for particular challenges in a fast and efficient manner. This encourages us to move forward with our partners in projects at more advanced stages of development and continue to work together with the best experts in their fields to make progress towards our vision of a world without pain.