Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment Micheál Martin TD today (22 August 2006) announced that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is establishing a ground breaking research project with an investment of up to €14.6m into gastrointestinal diseases, in collaboration with Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) in UCC.This project is jointly supported by IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).
Researchers from GSK’s Neurology and GI Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD) will work closely with the APC to identify new drug targets for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by exploiting the drug discovery capabilities of GSK’s and the APC’s unique understanding of these diseases.
Speaking at the launch in UCC, Mr. Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment said: “This internationally novel and exciting research project involves a high-level collaboration between GSK, one the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, and one of Ireland’s leading research groups, APC.Ireland has created a unique interconnected R&D landscape that encourages collaboration between all participants in research.”
“This project represents a major breakthrough in the promotion of drug discovery research, which is a key target for IDA Ireland and SFI, and builds on the Government’s strategy to actively promote industrial-academic collaborations. Today’s announcement clearly demonstrates how the Irish system, working together, wins strategic and significant R&D projects against world class international competition”, Minister Martin added.
GSK has a strong heritage in Ireland and employs over 1600 people across four sites in Cork, Waterford and Dublin. GSK’s existing manufacturing operation in Currabinny, County Cork, which employs more than 500 people, will be closely involved in the project which will strengthen its position to capture the development and manufacturing activities of new drugs arising from the project. The Cork facility has already invested significantly in R&D activity in recent years.
Jackie Hunter, Senior Vice President and Head of GSK’s Neurology & GI CEDD said, “GSKiscommitted to developing new medicines for the treatment of GI diseases, and is developing a rich pipeline of preclinical candidates within the CEDD. We are very excited to be joining forces with the APC to expedite the prosecution of this pipeline. This collaboration is a concrete example of how industry and academia can partner effectively to translate preclinical research into medicines for GI disorders.”
Professor Fergus Shanahan, Director of the APC, said: “The project will showcase Ireland as a centre for drug discovery and translational medicine. The quality of the research, the significant contribution of both parties intellectually, financially and at a strategic level marks a step-change in the quality and depth of research which will be undertaken by this company in Ireland. This collaboration highlights the capability of Ireland’s researchers to engage and add-value to the earliest part of the pharmaceutical value chain in drug discovery, and encourages the pharmaceutical industry in general to consider Ireland as a location of choice for cutting edge research activities.”
The GSK-APC venture spans three major areas of research; exploratory scientific research; bench-to-bedside medical exploratory studies with known molecular entities developed in-house by GSK; drug discovery using GSK technology and APC enabling tools and technology.
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