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23 February 98
A £7 million collaboration agreement between research and industry aimed at creating new drugs to combat major diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes was finalised today at the University of Dundee.
Five pharmaceutical companies : Astra Charnwood, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, SmithKline Beecham and Zeneca are collaborating with the Medical Research Council and the University of Dundee in setting up a new laboratory devoted to signal transduction research*.
Eighteen scientists will be recruited to work in the new Division of Signal Transduction Therapy bringing the number of researchers working in this field in Dundee to 100, reinforcing the University's reputation as the top European centre in this increasingly important area of research.
The new division is housed within the Medical Sciences Institute in an area recently vacated by scientists who have moved into the £13 million Wellcome Trust Building next door. The£1.8 million refurbishment and equipping of the laboratories is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Scottish Enterprise Tayside and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (through the Joint Research Equipment Intitiative) as well as the five pharmaceutical companies.
Scientists in the new research division will identify and characterise key regulatory enzymes called kinases and phosphatases, that control a variety of processes within the body and thus help the pharmaceutical companies to identify novel inhibitors. Such compounds could offer the potential for new drugs to treat certain cancers, diabetes, heart disease and inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
The new division will be jointly directed by Professor Philip Cohen, Head of the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, and Professor Peter Downes, the Head of the MRC-funded Inositol Lipid Signalling Laboratory.
The co-directors said : 'This is another major coup for the University of Dundee and the MRC in the field of biomedical sciences. The creation of this new division is the culmination of over 20 years' work in this area. It demonstrates once again why longterm basic research in key areas has to be funded before spin-offs of major importance for the health and wealth of the nation can take place.'
Astra Charnwood is the UK R&;D unit of the Swedish based Astra Group and operates as a Division of their UK subsidiary Astra Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Based in Loughborough, Leics, research is largely focused on novel approaches to inflammatory and immunological mechanisms. A £110 million investment is underway to build new laboratories and headcount has risen from 700 in 1995 to over 1,000 at the start of 1998.
Novo Nordisk: Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, corporate vice president in charge of Novo Nordisk's Health Care Discovery said : 'This agreement is important because it provides valuable insights into cellular signal transduction - a basic knowledge which may become the basis for development of new drugs. Novo Nordisk's primary focus is the development of drugs that mimic the effect of insulin but the technology may be applied within other therapeutic areas as well.' Contact Mr Nich Barfoed tel +45 44 42 35 90
SmithKline Beecham: Dr David U'Prichard, Chairman of R&D for SmithKline Beecham said 'This agreement is important in a number of aspects. Firstly, it will allow basic research to be turned quickly into drug discovery opportunities. Secondly, it will greatly develop the area of signal transduction as the basis for a new generation of pharmaceutical products. SmithKline Beecham has active signal transduction research to investigate therapies for a number of diseases including those of the central nervous system, diabetes, inflammation and cancer. It is expected that this collaboration will greatly benefit these, and other, discovery efforts.'
Zeneca: Barry Furr, Senior Vice-President of Therapeutic Research at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals said :- 'The control of cell growth and function in both health and disease involves the translation of external signals or messages by cells. Kinases and phosphatases play major roles in these processes. The pre-eminence of the University of Dundee in this field is based on a long term investment in basic science by Professors Cohen and Downes. Zeneca is delighted to participate in this exciting and innovative British venture and sees opportunities for both novel drug discovery and improved understanding of disease processes.'
* Signal transduction is the process by which cells respond to hormones, growth factors, infection and other stimuli.
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