UK invests £50m in targeted research
pharmafile | October 13, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | BIA, clinical research, genomics, personalised medicine, targeting
The government is to put more than £50 million of funding into a new initiative to produce more targeted research and in turn improve diagnosis and treatment.
Universities and science minister David Willetts said the Stratified Medicines Innovation Platform (SMIP) will help the pharma industry to develop more effective drugs for smaller patient groups.
Stratified medicine uses genomic and molecular technologies to identify patients’ likely responses, so the goals are improved outcomes and better value through more effective targeting.
The first three competitions for £11 million of funding – in tumour profiling to improve cancer care, developing biomarkers for more effective drugs and coming up with stratified medicines business models – open in January.
Behind the new launch are the Technology Strategy Board, the Department of Health, Scottish Government Health Directorates, the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK and NICE.
ABPI director general Richard Barker called it a “great example of the UK’s vibrant life sciences sector pulling together to create growth strategies for Britain’s future”.
“Tailoring medicines to patients is a key challenge for the $750 billion global pharmaceutical market,” said Willetts.
“The UK possesses many strengths needed to accelerate the innovation of stratified medicines and lead the world in developing medicines targeted at smaller subgroups of patients,” he added.
As well as improving healthcare providers’ cost effectiveness, the government says the SMIP will also help the diagnostics industry to develop relevant tests.
“We’ll have a wealth of genetic information in two years that could be used to develop the personalised cancer drugs of the future,” predicted Cancer Research UK chief executive Harpal Kumar.
BioIndustry Association chief executive Nigel Gaymond welcomed the announcement, and urged its members to join the competitions for funding.
“The SMIP will help to place the UK at the centre of a new, more targeted approach to diagnosing and treating disease,” he said. “It is encouraging to see government taking steps to secure the UK’s position as a world leader in this field.”
The UK is active in research: earlier this year, plans for a new London-based biomedical research and innovation centre – to be the biggest in Europe – were unveiled.
The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) is a four-way alliance between the MRC and Cancer Research UK again, along with the Wellcome Trust and University College London.
Based in London, it aims to pool UK research expertise to create a magnet for the best academic researchers in the world, breaking down barriers between different fields of biomedical research to help accelerate important discoveries in the field.
Construction on the centre could begin as early as 2011, with scientists beginning work by 2015.
Adam Hill
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