The United States pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma has agreed to hand over previously private molecules and data to an addiction centre it is funding as part of a legal settlement.
Under an agreement announced on 15 August, Oklahoma State University’s Center for Wellness and Recovery will use Purdue Pharma’s research into opioid painkillers to help treat drug addiction. The company agreed to give nearly $200 million to the centre in March to settle a legal case with the state of Oklahoma.
The centre’s president Kayse Shrum said in a statement that Purdue Pharma’s funding and materials would be “transformational” to the centre’s work and would allow it to do research that would not otherwise be possible. The centre, which opened in September 2018, will be granted limited rights to use company materials for discovery research and to develop treatments.