The European Rare DIsease Therapeutic Initiative :

In order to promote therapeutic research and develop drugs for the treatment of rare diseases in Europe, several academic research institutions and pharmaceutical companies (Pharma Partners) have established an innovative partnership to facilitate the evaluation of compounds that have been or are being developed by pharmaceutical companies.

	Main goals:
	To give academic teams an access to a large variety of compounds which can be evaluated preclinically and, if warranted, clinically
	To provide a collaboration streamlined facilitated process between academic teams and Pharma Partner to develop drugs for rare diseases
	To guarantee the continuity all the way from research to development and commercialisation of the drug. If preclinical studies uncover the potential of a compound for a rare disease, the Pharma Partner who has rights to this compound will either develop himself the drug for the rare disease indication or allow its development by the academic team or a third party if he has no intentions of developing himself.

The partnership is based on a charter of collaboration between academic teams and Pharma Partners. Participation implies that the partners agree this charter.

The Partnership is under the sponsorship of the European Science Foundation and is coordinated by the GIS - Institut des maladies rares (French Institute for Rare Diseases Research. It is supported by Leem-Recherche, the advisory R&D committee of the French pharmaceutical industry association.