GSK and the Francis Crick Institute collaborate on drug R&D
pharmafile | July 15, 2015 | News story | Research and Development | Francis Crick Institute, GSK, R&D, The Crick, medical research
The UK’s largest pharma company and the UK’s newest biomedical research facility are partnering up to begin an innovation collaboration.
The tie-in will explore medical research and drug discovery in HIV, malaria, cancer and other diseases.
GSK will become one of the first pharma companies to move into the Crick’s purpose-built biomedical research centre, which is under construction in King’s Cross, London.
The Francis Crick Institute is a unique partnership between the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, University College London, Imperial College London and King’s College London.
GSK scientists, and other tenants and medical researchers, are due to begin moving into the facility in 2016. Scientists from both organisations will also work at GSK’s global R&D hub in Stevenage.
The UK firm’s president of pharmaceuticals R&D, Patrick Vallance, says: “The Francis Crick Institute combines some of the world’s best scientific minds and promises to firmly cement the UK as a global leader in life sciences research. We’re thrilled to be the first industry partner of this dynamic organisation and believe that by working alongside one another, combining our unique strengths, we’ll be well-placed to make game-changing advances in our understanding of human disease, which will ultimately improve our ability to make new medicines.”
The collaboration will host biological research projects focused on learning more about the nature of diseases and how best to treat them. The joint projects will explore diseases such as HIV, malaria and cancer, starting in 2015 and building to 10-15 projects by 2016. GSK believes that the partnership will lead to significant new discoveries and improve the company’s success rate for discovering new medicines.
David Roblin, chief operating officer and director of scientific translation at the Francis Crick Institute, says: “This truly represents a landmark agreement in open science. In the Crick we aim to have industrial scientists embedded in our laboratories and fully integrated with our existing scientific groups.
“Together the scientists will accelerate breakthroughs in the understanding of human health and disease. GSK is an outstanding partner to commence this effort and I am excited to see what we deliver together.”
Findings from the collaboration will be shared with the broader scientific community, and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Yasmita Kumar
Related Content
GSK’s Exdensur receives MHRA approval for asthma and rhinosinusitis
GSK’s Exdensur (depemokimab), a twice-yearly biological medicine, has received approval from the UK Medicines and …
Epilepsy Research Institute opens 2025-26 grant round with new awards
The Epilepsy Research Institute has opened its 2025-26 Grant Round, offering a wide range of …
ANGLE’s Parsortix system used in new cancer biology research
ANGLE has announced three new peer-reviewed publications demonstrating the use of its Parsortix circulating tumour …
