7 February 2013
BioCity Scotland announced as UK hub for major European drug discovery project
Scottish First Minister Rt. Hon Alex Salmond MSP has welcomed today's news that a major new pharmaceutical drug discovery initiative is to be centred at BioCity Scotland in Lanarkshire, in partnership with the University of Dundee. The project will bring at least 19 million Euros (£16.3 million) of research funding to Scotland following today's announcement by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) of the launch of the European Lead Factory.
Accelerating the development of a new generation of drugs is behind the announcement by an international consortium of 30 partners taking part in the European Lead Factory, a novel platform for innovative drug discovery. This partnership, the first of its kind, is supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), and creates unprecedented opportunities for the discovery of new medicines through access to a proprietary, high-quality compound collection.
In addition to the 19 million Euros (£16.3 million) of IMI funding, further financial support for the Scottish-based part of the project worth £3.5 million will come from the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government. In partnership with the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA), the University of Dundee will place a team of drug discovery scientists at Biocity Scotland to conduct screening and medicinal chemistry activities for the project.
Pharmaceutical companies have vast libraries of compounds held in safeguarded corporate chemical collections which can be screened in the hunt for potential medicines. Usually, access to these compound libraries is highly restricted. However, as part of the European Lead Factory, the 7 participating pharmaceutical companies will contribute a total of 300,000 chemical compounds from their collections. A library of an estimated additional 200,000 novel compounds will be developed jointly by academia, and by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Together, the two libraries will form a Joint European Compound Collection consisting of up to half a million compounds that will be accessible to all project partners and to any European organisations offering promising new targets for drug discovery screening. These target proposals will be selected through competitive calls.
An equally important part of the European Lead Factory is the European Screening Centre, which will assist contributors of novel targets in the development of tests amenable to the requirements of industrialized screening methodology. Both the sites in Scotland and in the Netherlands will run state of the art facilities for compound logistics high throughput screening to respectively handle the 500,000-strong compound library and to evaluate new compounds that are active against the novel targets.
Speaking on behalf of the Scottish Screening Centre team, Dr Glenn Crocker CEO BioCity Group said: "For me, the exciting aspect of this project is the opportunity it provides to discover novel drugs through the collaboration of seven large pharma companies and an open call to academics and industry across Europe. On top of that there is the potential to build on this platform, extending it into new screening technologies or wider compound collections. We are very pleased it will be based at BioCity Scotland."
Professor Andrew Hopkins of the University of Dundee, and SULSA Director said: "We are absolutely delighted that the European Lead Factory will be co-located in Scotland with Biocity Scotland providing compound logistics and the University of Dundee staff at the site, undertaking screening activities and medicinal chemistry for the project. The addition of the European Lead Factory to the Scottish Life Sciences community seals our growing international reputation as one of the most dynamic and innovative hubs for academic drug discovery. We will use the opportunity provided by the IMI project as a spring- board to win further investments in the field of drug discovery innovation to benefit not only academic research but wider economic and societal benefits for Scotland."
Speaking as the announcement was made at his official residence in Edinburgh this morning, First Minister Alex Salmond said:
"Congratulations to BioCity Scotland and to SULSA on bringing such a huge and valuable piece of work to Scotland. This provides enormous opportunities for Scotland's life sciences sector and it is fantastic recognition of the talent and expertise of Scotland's life sciences community.
"In particular, this shows the combined strength of our universities and commercial experts. Working together, they have been able to secure the biggest ever IMI contract of its kind for Scotland, putting Lanarkshire and Dundee at the forefront of drug discovery in Europe for many years to come.
"This morning's announcement reinforces Scotland's international reputation as a nation at the forefront of scientific breakthroughs and promotes the life sciences sector as central to continued economic growth in Scotland."
IMI Executive Director Michel Goldman said: "IMI is very excited by the launch of the European Lead Factory. This unique project is an excellent example of how a public-private partnership can transform the way in which the pharmaceutical sector identifies new medicines. For the first time, it will give European researchers unprecedented access to industry chemical collections and facilitate the translation of their findings into actual treatments for patients. This project will not only advance the chances of success in the discovery of new medicines by European researchers, but also add value by building research capacity in Europe."
The total budget for the European Lead Factory amounts to 196 million Euros. Of this 80 million Euros comes from the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), and 91 million Euros is provided as in-kind contributions from the participating companies that are members of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The remaining €25 million comes from other contributions from the non-EFPIA participants.
Bayer HealthCare will be the coordinator from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) for this IMI project. The Netherlands based non-profit organization TI Pharma will facilitate the overall scientific governance of this new project and is heading the European Consortium's Screening efforts. Taros Chemicals is heading the European consortium's Chemistry effort.
If the project proves successful during its initial five year funding period, the European Screening Centre and the teams of SMEs and academic institutions aim for a sustainable role in drug discovery and the future growth of drug discovery in Europe.
Dr Glenn Crocker and Professor Andrew Hopkins are available for interview.
Photography is available from Thursday 7th February at 14:00
Press contacts
UK and Scottish media contact
Louise Third, Director Integra Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 115 912 4350
E-mail: louise@integracommunications.co.uk
General enquiries
Catherine Brett, Communication and Events Manager, IMI
Tel: +32 2 541 8214 - Mobile: +32 484 896227
E-mail: catherine.brett@imi.europa.eu
Elianne Hoving, Head of Marketing and Communications, TI Pharma
Tel: +31 71 332 2036 - Mobile: +31 6 5179 8572
E-mail: elianne.hoving@tipharma.com
Notes to Editors
Copies of all media documents, including those issued by IMI, are available from Integra Communications
The research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n° 115489, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies' in kind contribution.'
More information: www.imi.europa.eu/content/european-lead-factory
BIOCITY SCOTLAND
A joint venture between BioCity Nottingham and Roslin BioCentre, BioCity Scotland is much more than a property proposition; it is a state-of-the-art bioscience and healthcare facility, located right in the heart of the Central Belt of Scotland.
In addition to over 130,000 sq ft of 'pharma quality' fully fitted laboratory and office space, BioCity Scotland provides access to a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment, available to rent at very competitive rates.
Housing a unique community of commercially minded, dynamic young scientific companies, BioCity Scotland has networking, collaborating and sharing ideas at the heart of its aims.
www.biocity-scotland.co.uk.
UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE - LIFE SCIENCES
With more than 1000 scientists, research students and support staff from 64 countries and external funding averaging in excess of ?40 million per year, the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee is one of the largest and most productive Life Sciences research institutes in Europe. Consistently voted one of 'the best places for a life scientist to work' by The Scientist magazine, the College has an international reputation for its basic and translational research and was recognised in the 2011 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Excellence with Impact Awards for 'Greatest Delivery of Impact'. The University of Dundee is the central hub for a multi-million pound biotechnology sector in the east of Scotland, which now accounts for 16% of the local economy. www.dundee.ac.uk.
About the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is the world's largest public-private partnership in health. IMI is improving the environment for pharmaceutical innovation in Europe by engaging and supporting networks of industrial and academic experts in collaborative research projects. The European Union contributes €1 billion to the IMI research programme, and this is matched by in kind contributions worth at least another €1 billion from the member companies of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The Innovative Medicines Initiative currently supports 40projects, many of which are already producing impressive results. The projects all address major bottlenecks in drug development, and so will accelerate the development of safer and more effective treatments for patients. The research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n° [115489], resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies' in kind contribution.
More information: www.imi.europa.eu
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head. Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902 |
