Sanofi is partnering with Protas, a new UK-based nonprofit organization led by Martin Landray, the leader of the UK’s RECOVERY trial, which evaluated multiple treatments for COVID-19.

The independent group’s mission is to design and conduct large, global randomized trials at a fraction of current costs.

Landray, who has more than two decades of experience at the helm of large clinical trials run by Oxford University, pointed to the COVID-19 crisis as shining a light on the importance of large-sized trials.

“As we have seen during the recent pandemic, large randomized clinical trials are critical for the proper assessment of possible treatments. [But] the situation is not [specific] to the pandemic; there are many other common and other life-threatening diseases,” Landray said.

As its first strategic industry partner, Sanofi will contribute up to $6.7 million to Protas. The project, which is also backed by an initial grant from the National Health Service in England, intends to spend this year working on its organizational structure, technology and strategic collaborations. It expects to start designing its first trials in 2023.