ST. LOUIS — Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL), a leading Life Science and Technology Company, announced today it has signed an agreement with UC San Francisco’s (UCSF) Catalyst Program to support its research efforts. Under the agreement, a Sigma-Aldrich representative will participate in reviewing and consulting for projects in the Catalyst Awards program, which funds UCSF scientists who wish to move their translational research into product development.

The goal of the alliance is to foster the exchange of scientific and business ideas between UCSF and Sigma-Aldrich research and business leaders, delivering transformative value for Sigma-Aldrich, its partners and customers. As part of the involvement in the UCSF Catalyst Awards review panel, Sigma-Aldrich is expected to provide technical insight and market guidance to enable rapid translation into useful research tools and reagents. This will offer UCSF the support to focus on research and development in pursuit of innovative new technologies and sustainable solutions.

“We are excited to enter into this strategic collaboration with a world-leading research organization such as UC San Francisco,” said Sean Muthian, Ph.D., Director of Strategic Marketing at Sigma-Aldrich. “We hope that Sigma-Aldrich’s partnership with the UCSF Catalyst Program will make advanced technologies readily available to translational researchers and speed the development of therapies to improve the quality of life. In addition, our commitment to standardizing the manufacture, delivery and use of these tools may help address some of the challenges of reproducibility with home-brewed research materials.”

“This collaboration marks an important step in cultivating critical industry-academic partnerships,” said June Lee, M.D., Director of the UCSF Catalyst Program. “Sigma-Aldrich has deep expertise and industry-leading capabilities that are complementary to the scientific work at UCSF, and we look forward to partnering with Sigma-Aldrich to further support the broader mandate of the organization and the Catalyst Awards, to accelerate research that will ultimately lead to improved human health.”

The Catalyst Awards program solicits applications from UCSF investigators with compelling translational research findings who wish to move beyond the research bench and into product development. It includes four different tracks of focus, including therapeutics, diagnostics, devices and digital health. Applications are reviewed by a panel of expert advisors who have specialized experience related to product development and commercialization.

The alliance with the UCSF Catalyst Program is part of Sigma-Aldrich’s continued commitment to provide scientists with the tools and support that will enable and enhance life science discovery. Sigma-Aldrich has also established agreements with The Scripps Research Institute and VIB to accelerate the commercialization of novel translational tools. These partnerships are at the core of Sigma-Aldrich’s mission to supply researchers with the products, resources and support they need for their translational research while addressing industry-wide reproducibility concerns.