Cross-continental collaboration
The UK and Europe made a commitment to explore possible joint international collaborations with China on areas of mutual interest in medicinal chemistry, during a signing ceremony at the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC).
The Royal Society of Chemistry renewed its five-year MoU with the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association (CPA) and the EFMC signed a new MoU with the CPA to explore possible joint collaborations. The ceremony took place on 30 August at the Manchester Convention Centre.
Since 2009, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the CPA have been collaborating by organising joint symposia in both the UK and China, focusing on key challenges in human health and medicinal chemistry. "Such events promoted communication and exchange and played a positive role in integrating Chinese medicinal chemistry into the international community and promoting the innovative research of the surging Chinese pharmaceutics", said Professor Kaixian Chen, Vice President of the CPA.
"We face major health challenges. From epidemics like Zika and Ebola to rising rates of cancer in the UK – half of us will develop cancer at some point in our lives. And it is now one of the biggest killers in China… China is an increasingly important source of scientific discovery and innovation and I hope to see new collaborations between our communities in the future", said Dr Robert Parker, CEO of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Professor Koen Augustyns, President of the EFMC concurred, saying, "Medicinal Chemistry is clearly gaining momentum in China. This is exemplified in a recent paper published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry describing how papers with a corresponding author in China have multiplied by five in the last ten years. The new collaboration between CPA and EFMC is therefore timely and we are looking forward to joint activities to promote and advance the science of medicinal chemistry."
Professor Chen concluded the signing ceremony by saying, "I would like to suggest that we see today as a brand new starting point of a journey for collaboration during which medicinal chemists from UK, Europe and China will understand each other better, express their views about shared concerns on development trends, expand research opportunities and achieve fruitful outcomes that will contribute to the health of mankind."
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