5 August 2008

UK’s pioneering pharmaceutical collaboration attracts £10.8 million funding

The University of Dundee and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are pleased to announce new funding of almost £11 million from a consortium of pharmaceutical companies for the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT), a groundbreaking collaboration that aims to attack major global diseases.

Five of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies - AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck KGaA (through its Merck Serono division) and Pfizer - will provide core support of £10.8 million to the DSTT over the four year period from 2008 - 2012.

The DSTT is a collaboration between the pharmaceutical companies and thirteen research teams based at the University of Dundee. Eight of the teams are based within the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit at the College of Life Sciences.

The DSTT was founded in 1998 and expanded in 2003, and over that period attracted funding of £23million. It is thought to be the largest collaboration between the UK academic community and the pharmaceutical industry and is widely regarded as a model for how academia and industry should interact. The project was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education in 2006.

This new round of funding will secure 50 posts at Dundee for the next four years.

The DSTT is a highly specialised unit working to accelerate the development of new drug treatments for major diseases including cancer and diabetes in a market that is estimated to be worth $12.7 billion per annum and projected to reach $58.6 billion per annum in 2010.

The three co-directors of the DSTT are Sir Philip Cohen and Professors Dario Alessi and Peter Downes. Commenting on the renewal of the agreement Sir Philip said "Collaborations between academic laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry typically last a few years. Therefore to maintain and expand support until 2012 when three of the participating companies will have been funding the DSTT for 14 years is unprecedented; we must be doing something right!"

Professor Dario Alessi said, "I am delighted that the agreement has been renewed, as this will enable us to translate our recent research findings and ideas into potential new drug therapies for the treatment of cancer, hypertension and Parkinson’s disease."

Professor Peter Downes, Vice-Principal of the University of Dundee and Head of the College of Life Sciences, said, "The College of Life Sciences in Dundee is committed to the translation of world class basic science for health and economic benefits. Renewal of this collaboration with five of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies is a vote of confidence in that strategy and in Dundee’s leadership position in biomedical research."

On behalf of the pharmaceutical companies, Dr Malcolm Skingle of GlaxoSmithKline Chairman of the Programme Management Group said, "This has been a very successful collaboration over the past ten years and we are delighted to see it continue. This project has shown the benefits that can come from pharmaceutical companies like ourselves working hand-in-hand with top flight research at the University of Dundee."

The aim of the DSTT is to work with the participating pharmaceutical companies to accelerate the development of improved drugs to treat global diseases - such as cancer, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis - and which exert their effects by targeting two types of enzyme termed "kinases" and "phosphatases".

The University of Dundee and the associated MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit comprise the world’s largest centre for the study of kinases and phosphatases with nearly 200 scientific and support staff working in this area. Kinase drug discovery accounts for about 30% of the R&D budget of the pharmaceutical industry and over 50% of global cancer drug discovery.

The importance of this market is highlighted by the fact that in recent years ten drugs that target kinases or phosphatases have been approved for clinical use. They include the drug Gleevec, which has shown spectacular efficacy in treating a form of Leukaemia called CML, and cyclosporin, the drug that prevents tissue rejection and permitted the widespread use of organ transplantation.

Under the terms of the new deal the companies will also pay additional unspecified sums to purchase reagents and services and to obtain licences to patents filed by the MRC and the University of Dundee.

Notes for Editors

The MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit is widely recognised as one of the world's leading centres studying the role of protein phosphorylation in cell regulation and human disease. It is best known for its research on the causes of Type II diabetes and researchers in the Unit have discovered the major biochemical pathways by which the hormone insulin exerts its effects in humans. It is also recognised for its contributions to the fields of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and hypertension, as well as its innovative partnerships with industry.

The University of Dundee has powered its way to an internationally recognised position of excellence in life sciences and medical research with particular expertise in cancer, diabetes and tropical diseases. The University has both a 5* rated medical school and College of Life Sciences, with research expanding from "the cell to the clinic to the community", and has a larger medical research complex than the National Institute for Medical Research in London. The University has an excellent track record in attracting research income and commercialising research activity. See www.dundee.ac.uk for further details.

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Roddy Isles
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E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk