‘Therapeutic clusters’ collaboration launched
pharmafile | November 2, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | ABPI, BIA, Immunology Initiative, Medical Research Council, Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health and Research, Therapeutic Capability Clusters’, UCB, therapeutic clusters
Two initiatives linking the pharma industry and government-funded research and academia are to go ahead, with the aim of reviving the UK’s reputation as a centre for drug research.
The UK is facing intense competition from other countries, particularly in Asia, which offer lower costs and faster set-up times for trials.
The first of these is the ‘Therapeutic Capability Clusters’ initiative, first announced in July 2009 by the then Labour government. The Clusters project seeks to help speed up drug development through closer collaboration between academics, clinicians and the life sciences industry.
The clusters aim to pool resources from all sides, and help increase patient access. Importantly they will serve as a single point of contact for industry to engage with, providing a ‘commercial and cultural environment’ to support research.
The new initiative will be led by the government’s Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health and Research (OSCHR).
The second project is the Inflammation and Immunology Initiative, a joint project between the government-funded Medical Research Council and pharma association the ABPI.
This initiative is based on MRC plans to set-up consortia in two pilot disease areas. The £10 million plus initiative represents a new approach by the MRC, bringing together academics and industry at the early planning stages to develop a stratified approach to disease, what it calls “targeting the right treatments to the right people”.
This will include efforts to make clinical trials more effective and efficient, as well as identifying novel biomarkers, mechanisms and targets.
The decision to proceed with the plans was announced at a joint ABPI/BIA conference in London. The announcements come just days after the government’s overall spending review, which secured funding for life science research. Dr Richard Barker, director general of the ABPI is co-chair of the Supercluster initiative with Professor Sir John Bell.
Barker said: “The Therapeutic Capability Clusters initiative, born in our work with the Office for Life Sciences, will create true comparative advantage for the UK in translational medicine. This programme capitalises on our vibrant and economically important life science sector, to attract increased inward investment from the global pharmaceutical industry. We are also delighted to partner with the MRC in tackling illnesses such as inflammatory lung disease which causes thousands of premature deaths every year. This is good news for the NHS patients of the future.”
Nigel Gaymond, BIA chief executive, said: “Today’s conference demonstrates the UK’s exceptional strengths in R&D across industry, academia and the health service. There can be no doubt that the UK is one of the world’s key locations for life sciences. Indeed, the launch of the Therapeutic Capability Clusters initiative is a prime example of how the UK’s strengths in academia and the NHS can be harnessed to accelerate the development of medicines. This innovative approach to clinical research has great potential for patients in an area of unmet medical need.”
Professor Sir John Bell, chairman of OSCHR, said: “I am excited that the clusters will provide a real opportunity for the best researchers in industry and the public sector to work together to gain insights into clinical development that could help to raise the profile of UK research, attract inward investment and help patients with chronic diseases.”
Medium-sized company UCB Group is a major investor in the UK, and its chief executive Roch Doliveux was also present at the meeting.
“With UK universities being world leaders, UK- based biomedical innovation has tremendous potential,” Doliveux commented. “In order that the UK remains a leading hub for biopharma R&D, government should ensure that investment remains and that policies are consistent with the long term nature of our business.”
The joint ABPI/BIA conference, entitled “Our Vision for a New Decade”, was held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. The meeting brought together 300 delegates to discuss the excellence of the UK life sciences industry, opportunities for the UK to promote industry and academic research collaborations, and the future opportunities to further develop the industry. Speakers at the conference included senior figures from the government, academia and life sciences industry.
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