Sanofi-aventis Partners in European Atrial Fibrillation Research Consortium
Paris, November 5 (ots/PRNewswire)
Sanofi-aventis announced today that it is a partner in a new multidisciplinary atrial fibrillation research consortium, the "European Network for Translational research in Atrial Fibrillation" (EUTRAF), which has been awarded a EUR12 million grant to engage in atrial fibrillation (AF) research. The European consortium is commencing a five-year research project with the objectives of providing highly interactive research with a variety of expertise to improve management of AF including diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
"Sanofi-aventis is committed to further advancing AF patient care and delighted to do so in collaboration with a network of highly respected scientific institutions and recognised clinical experts in the field of AF," said Marc Cluzel MD, PhD, Executive Vice President, Research and Development, sanofi-aventis. "We are proud to provide sanofi-aventis R&D expertise and to contribute new candidate molecules to the network. Sanofi-aventis' pioneering research in AF spans several decades and has led to innovations such as amiodarone, and dronedarone."
About EUTRAF
The European Network for Translational research in Atrial Fibrillation (EUTRAF) is a consortium of expert groups involved in atrial fibrillation research, including sanofi-aventis. The consortium was granted EUR12 million in funding for a five-year atrial fibrillation research project through the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) for European Union research. EUTRAF has been grouped into a matrix structure by research area and related competency to involve participants who possess a broad and synergistic range of scientific and technological expertise. This structure will help optimise the generation of new scientific knowledge across the whole consortium.
The EUTRAF consortium led by Professor John Camm from St-George's University of London (UK), consists of 18 partners
- St George's University of London (UK)
- Maastricht University (Netherlands)
- Université Pierre Marie Curie - Paris 6 (France)
- Technische Universität Dresden (Germany)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire - Bordeaux (France)
- Westfälische Wilhelms - Universität Münster (Germany)
- University Hospital Magdeburg (Germany)
- Universität Bern (Switzerland)
- Medical University of Graz (Austria)
- Medical Information Technology Solutions (Turkey)
- University of Oxford (UK)
- UK Health & Environment Research Institute (UK)
- Sanofi-aventis Deutschland GmbH (Germany)
- Osypka AG (Germany)
- Xention Ltd (UK)
- Ruprecht-Karls Universität - Heidelberg (Germany)
- Philipps Universität - Marburg (Germany)
- Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität - Greifswald (Germany)The role of sanofi-aventis in EUTRAF
Sanofi-aventis acts as the Exploitation Manager for the project. The exploitation issues will be coordinated by the Project Steering Unit composed of Coordinator, Technical Managers, the Consortium Manager and the Exploitation Manager. This unit will be supported in its decisions by the Management Board (MB) comprising one representative from each of the partners. Sanofi-aventis is furthermore responsible of contributing with its scientific expertise, as well as providing new candidate molecules into the project.
About Atrial Fibrillation
The incidence of atrial fibrillation is growing worldwide in relation to aging populations. It is emerging as a public health concern, affects over 5 million people in Europe and represents one-third of hospitalizations for arrhythmia in the European Union. Atrial fibrillation leads to potential life-threatening complications. AF doubles the risk of mortality, increases the risk of stroke up to five-fold, worsens the prognosis of patients with cardiovascular risk factors, and increases the risks of unplanned CV hospitalisations leading to a significant burden on patients, health care providers and payers. Seventy percent of AF management costs are driven by hospital care and interventional procedures in the European Union.
About sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris and in New York . For more information, please visit: http://www.sanofi-aventis.com
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