14 February 2006
AWARD OF QUEEN'S ANNIVERSARY PRIZE
*** EMBARGOED FOR USE UNTIL 10AM THURSDAY FEBRUARY 16TH ***
Photo notice - the ceremony is expected to end shortly after midday, after which time the University representation of Prof Sir Philip Cohen, Sir James Black and Sir Alan Langlands should be available for pictures at Buckingham Palace.
A pioneering life sciences project at the University of Dundee will be honoured with the presentation of the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday February 16th.
The award is being made to the University for the work of the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT), a collaborative project which has united normally fiercely competitive rivals from the pharmaceutical industry in the quest to develop new drugs targetted at major diseases including cancer and diabetes.
Professor Sir Philip Cohen, Director of Research for the University’s School of Life Sciences, will accept the award from Her Majesty The Queen on behalf of the University. Sir Philip will be joined at the Palace by Sir James Black, Chancellor of the University and Sir Alan Langlands, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University.
Professor Pete Downes, Dean of the School of Life Sciences and co-director of the DSTT, will also be at the Palace together with a small party of students and staff associated with the project.
Sir Philip Cohen said, "It took two years hard work from 1996-1998 to persuade five companies to join in this venture and to get the lawyers from each company to sign a single agreement, which was finally achieved at a meeting behind locked doors at Heathrow Airport! It is therefore very rewarding that it has turned out to be so successful."
"At scientific conferences GlaxoSmithKline have described it as the best run of the 1000-plus academic collaborations in which they participate worldwide and the DSTT has helped to initiate a huge number of new drug discovery programmes. Pfizer have described it as their most important academic collaboration worldwide."
The Division of Signal Transduction Therapy is a project some sceptics initially called a "test tube dream" - the notion that major rivals, all world-leading drug companies, could put aside their competitive instincts and share basic research in the quest to develop new drugs being regarded as somewhat fanciful.
However, the University of Dundee's unique concentration of bio-expertise in the field of 'Signal Transduction' has proved a magnetic attraction, while the driving entrepreneurial vision of the two leading scientists, Professor Sir Philip Cohen and Professor Pete Downes, Dean of the School of Life Sciences, helped overcome the contractual complexities to clinch a deal.
That was in 1998 and since then the project has moved from strength to strength. After initially involving five companies in an £8 million deal, a second stage of the project signed in 2003 widened the involvement to six major companies and an additional £15 million investment. The companies now involved in the DSTT are AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Co. Inc., Merck KGaA and Pfizer.
The consortium was recognised by the Department of Trade and Industry last year as a model of best practice in technology transfer and has directly injected well over £23 million directly into the local economy.
Now with a staff of 35 and a further 115 working in associated units, the DSTT is one of the largest research collaborations between the pharmaceutical industry and a UK research institution.
University Principal Sir Alan Langlands said, "We are delighted and honoured - but not surprised - that the DSTT has won this prestigious award. It is a first class example of the "knowledge economy" in action. The DSTT is a unique operation accelerating drug discovery to tackle major diseases while pioneering a novel and highly effective model of knowledge transfer. It is a tremendous tribute to the drive and vision of Philip Cohen and Pete Downes."
The DSTT, based in the School of Life Sciences and its associated Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit, has stimulated biotechnology in the region by training scientists with a knowledge of the needs of the commercial sector. Several of these staff helped to establish Upstate Inc. in Dundee, a company selling specialised reagents and services to the pharmaceutical industry, which was recently acquired by the Serologicals Corporation for $205 million.
The Queen's Anniversary Prizes are awarded biennially to institutions of higher and further education for work of exceptional quality and of broad benefit either nationally or internationally. They form part of the honours system and constitute the highest honour in UK higher and further education.
NOTES TO EDITORS
This is the second time the University of Dundee has won the Queen's Anniversary Prize. The first was in 1998/99 when the pioneering work of Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri and his team in the field of keyhole surgery was recognised.
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 Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education sit alongside the Queen's Awards for Industry in the nation's honours system. However the Prizes are administered by an independent charitable trust: The Royal Anniversary Trust.
The Prizes were first awarded in 1994 and originated as a result of the commemorations for the Fortieth Anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.
For more information contact:
Roddy Isles
Head of Press
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: 01382 384910
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