The Centre for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra has been designated as the European coordinator for an international consortium dedicated to finding new drugs. The Academic Drug Discovery Consortium (ADDC) is a non-profit organization created in 2012 by the drug discovery leaders of Harvard, John Hopkins, Vanderbilt, North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of California, San Francisco. At present it has over 1.500 members from over 140 research centers all over the world: 18 in Europe, four in Australia, three in Asia and a 115 in the United States. Its objective is to establish an interactive global working network made up of groups that specialize in finding new drugs, which will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and the development of collaborations.

 "Academic drug discovery is a critical part of the new drug development ecosystem. The development of new therapeutics is increasingly a global effort, and CIMA is a key part of the ADDC's European outreach", stated Dr. Barbara Slusher, ADDC Founder and President.

Those responsible for the coordination of this network in Europe are Dr. Jesús Hernández and Dr. Julen Oyarzabal, Chief Executive Officer and director of Translational Sciences at CIMA, respectively. "In order to establish a solid European network within the global framework represented by the ADDC, we have contacted 114 European organizations, from universities and government research centers to pharmaceutical companies and the European Commission. Already collaborating in the initiative are the European Lead Factory and the European Medicines Agency. The next step is to facilitate access to the training and regulatory activities of the consortium for European academic centers, and to promote synergies between these centers and the rest of the world", they stated.