Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and Science Exchange Launch ADDF ACCESS

New “CRO Finder” Connects Scientists with Specialized Resources

by Cliff Culver, VP Strategy and GM, Science Exchange | www.scienceexchange.com

NEW YORK, June 7, 2017 — The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s, and Science Exchange today announced the launch of ADDF ACCESS, a first-of-its-kind online platform designed to match scientists working on central nervous system (CNS) diseases with a vetted network of contract research organizations (CROs).

ADDF ACCESS meets the unique needs of scientists in both academia and small biotech companies by combining the resources of Science Exchange, the world’s leading marketplace for outsourced research and development, with the Alzheimer’s drug discovery knowledge of the ADDF.

“Drug discovery requires a wide range of expertise, from medicinal chemistry and pharmacology to project management and regulatory affairs,” said Lauren Friedman, Ph.D., ADDF ACCESS program director. “Researchers don’t always have the interdisciplinary teams needed to develop a drug. We created the new ACCESS website with Science Exchange to connect researchers with high-quality CROs and provide guidance and resources to help successfully advance their drug programs.”

On ADDF ACCESS, scientists will find:

A network of CROs and consultants with CNS drug discovery expertise, vetted by the ADDF and Science Exchange
An expert concierge service to match scientists with the right CROs, solicit multiple competitive quotes, and manage projects
A library of educational resources, including a guide to CNS drug discovery and development
“Early-stage drug research is the engine that drives progress in treating Alzheimer’s and CNS diseases,” said Dr. Howard Fillit, M.D., executive director and chief science officer of the ADDF. “We are excited to provide a resource specifically designed to facilitate connections that fuel this engine. Every scientific discovery gets us closer to finding a treatment.”

“Eliminating the laborious, resource-intensive process of finding and negotiating with CROs and other service providers helps researchers focus on their important work, and that’s what Science Exchange is all about,” said Elizabeth Iorns, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Science Exchange. “We are thrilled to partner with the ADDF on this new ACCESS website that will give scientists specializing in CNS diseases the tools and services they need to bring important, potentially life-saving drugs to market faster.”

To learn more, visit https://www.alzdiscovery.org/addf-access

About the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded over $100 million to fund more than 500 Alzheimer’s drug discovery programs and clinical trials in 18 countries. To learn more, please visit: http://www.alzdiscovery.org/.

About Science Exchange
Science Exchange is the world’s leading marketplace for outsourced research. Science Exchange provides an efficient procure-to-pay platform for ordering services from the world’s largest network of scientific service providers. Through Science Exchange, clients gain access to over 2,400 qualified service providers, all with pre-established contracts in place that protect client intellectual property and confidentiality. This increases scientists access to innovation and significantly improves their productivity because they are freed up from the administrative tasks and delays associated with sourcing, establishing and managing service provider contracts. At an organizational level, the Science Exchange enterprise program enables organizations to consolidate the long tail of research outsourcing spend into a single strategic relationship driving significant efficiency and cost savings. To date, Science Exchange has raised over $30 million from Maverick Capital Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, OATV, the YC Continuity Fund, and others. For more information, visit www.scienceexchange.com.

SOURCE Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation

Related Links

http://www.alzdiscovery.org

Y Combinator launches Science Exchange-powered marketplace to support its companies’ research and development

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, USA, 5 March 2017–

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Science Exchange, the world’s leading marketplace for outsourced research and development, today announced a strategic partnership with Y Combinator (YC). YC-backed companies will now have exclusive access to the Science Exchange-powered YC marketplace, where they can instantly order experimental services from a network of over 2,500 qualified scientific service providers, all with pre-established contracts that protect companies’ IP and confidentiality.

YC, best known for its investments in tech giants including Airbnb, Dropbox, and Stripe, began investing in life sciences companies in 2014 as the need and opportunity to fund early stage companies in this space became increasingly apparent. The Science Exchange partnership addresses the unique needs of these R&D-focused companies, enabling them to compete on an equal footing with Science Exchange’s established global pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients by readily accessing the expertise and infrastructure housed in the Science Exchange network of service providers.

The Science Exchange marketplace will help YC companies:

1. Expand access to qualified service providers.
   Life science and biotech entrepreneurs must balance the need to access new, innovative service providers with the time-consuming process required to vet each potential service provider for quality and capability. Science Exchange streamlines this process with a network of over 2,500 service providers that have been pre-qualified through a stringent, ISO 9001-certified evaluation process that includes metrics tied to performance on past projects. Science Exchange additionally supports researchers with an expert Sourcing Team that can recommend the best service providers for each scope of work, further minimizing the risks inherent in outsourcing.

2. Eliminate administrative overhead.
   Each service provider relationship typically requires a standalone contract that may take months to negotiate and implement. Under the partnership, all service providers on the YC-Science Exchange network are available under a single contract that protects IP and confidentiality.Science Exchange also eliminates the need for YC-funded companies to conduct costly and time-consuming regulatory audits of service providers. Science Exchange’s in-house audit team conducts on-site inspections of service providers and facilities to ensure regulatory compliance, ensuring that contracted service providers possess necessary certifications, licenses, informed consent of subjects, and data security.

3. Save money.
   The Science Exchange-powered YC marketplace enables companies to quickly identify cost-competitive options and provides access to special offers exclusive to YC-funded companies.

YC is the latest organization to choose to partner with Science Exchange, and joins over 30 enterprise clients using Science Exchange-powered marketplaces to manage their outsourced R&D.

“In the last decade, the landscape for biotech firms has changed dramatically,” said Michael Seibel, CEO of Y Combinator. “Bringing a drug to market, which once took millions of dollars and several years of work because of infrastructure costs involved in building a lab, can now happen in a fraction of the time and funding required because of the ability to outsource R&D. YC invested in Science Exchange years ago because we saw the promise of what they were doing to help companies innovate faster, get important products to market quickly, and reduce the friction inherent in starting a business. Now we are excited to offer these benefits to our companies who have brilliant ideas and are meeting urgent market demands, but need the administrative and cost barriers removed so they can focus on their innovations.”

“The Science Exchange platform solves the challenge of R&D outsourcing: we provide scientists with efficient access to a network of highly qualified service providers,” said Dr. Elizabeth Iorns, Founder & CEO of Science Exchange. “We believe, like Y Combinator, that key to advancing groundbreaking research is eliminating the barriers to innovation, and we are thrilled to help YC-funded companies bring potentially life-saving products to market faster.”

About Science Exchange
Science Exchange is the world’s leading marketplace for outsourced research. Science Exchange provides an efficient procure-to-pay platform for ordering services from the world’s largest network of scientific service providers. Through Science Exchange, clients gain access to over 2,500 qualified service providers, all with pre-established contracts in place that protect client intellectual property and confidentiality. This increases scientists access to innovation and significantly improves their productivity because they are freed up from the administrative tasks and delays associated with sourcing, establishing and managing service provider contracts. At an organizational level, the Science Exchange enterprise program enables organizations to consolidate the long tail of research outsourcing spend into a single strategic relationship driving significant efficiency and cost savings. To date, Science Exchange has raised over $30 million from Maverick Capital Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, OATV, the YC Continuity Fund, and others. For more information visit www.scienceexchange.com.

About Y Combinator
Y Combinator is a startup fund based in Mountain View, CA. In 2005, Y Combinator developed a new model of startup funding. Twice a year they invest a small amount of money in a large number of startups. The startups move to Silicon Valley for 3 months, and the YC partners work closely with each company to get them into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each batch culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present their companies to a carefully selected audience of investors. Y Combinator has invested in over 1,464 companies including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Reddit, Instacart, Docker and Gusto. The combined valuation of YC companies is over $80B.