GSK unveils new cancer unit
pharmafile | September 17, 2008 | News story | Research and Development | Cancer, GSK
GSK has unveiled a new integrated oncology R&D unit aimed at enhancing its presence in cancer care.
The unit will be named GSK Oncology and led by Paolo Paoletti, the company’s head of oncology research.
It will bring together existing small discovery units within one unified centre of excellence for drug discovery, which will allow them to work more closely with the oncology drug development group.
GSK’s drug discovery scientists have until now worked in isolation from their counterparts working in clinical trials, but the new organisation means information can now be shared between the groups.
Paoletti, who joined the company in 2004 after nine years at Lily, said: “GSK has designed this new organisation to help us increase the breadth and depth of our core oncology knowledge, in order to ultimately deliver more innovative medicines that enhance cancer patients’ lives.”
The company says the unit will help it capture synergies between drug discovery and development, and create a constant flow of information from early to late stage development.
GSK does not currently have a particularly heavy presence in oncology, though it does have three current cancer treatments and six in development.
Its breast cancer treatment Tyverb was granted approval in the US under Priority Review in November 2006, but only received a conditional European approval in June this year. The company has also released positive data for Tyverb (lapatinib) in potential new indications, such as head and neck cancer.
The reorganisation of GSK’s oncology research is the latest in a series of reshuffles announced under new chief executive Andrew Witty.
Moncef Slaoui, the chairman of GSK R&D, commented: “The newly formed Oncology Unit is directly aligned with our R&D strategy to deliver more products of value, and will help us increase our efforts towards personalised medicine in oncology.”
Pfizer also established this type of facility earlier this year. It has one cancer treatment on the market, Sutent, though more molecules are in development stage.
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