Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 21, 2009 - (Page 12) BioFutures “If we publish the data, the protocol, the details of the molecule, efficacy achieved and side-effects, pharma will jump on that target and then they can go in parallel, do their chemistry, run screens, take out IP and hopefully get a drug.” The approach at SGC follows in the footsteps of the pre-competitive academic consortia established in the late 1990s such as the Dundee Kinase Consortium, University of Dundee, UK, (1998), and the SNP Consortium, Cold Spring Harbour, US (1999). However, a number of different industry–academic vehicles exist. A current paper in Drug Discovery Today by Cathy Tralau-Stewart et al at Imperial College London shows that industry is collaborating with academia through proof-of-concept funds, corporate minilabs, industry-state funded research centres, and sponsored research.2 The more entrepreneurially-minded universities have set up their own drug discovery units to translate projects from the bench to the clinic, yet Dr Tralau-Stewart concedes that the welldocumented pressures of publication versus patent remain. As Dr Bountra says, “For us to maintain academic credibility here in Oxford, we have to produce publications. If we are going to attract more money, we have to produce them, and it is a way of ensuring our science is top-notch.” With recent citations in Nature, Cell, and PNAS, it is no wonder that the Wellcome Trust invested a further £4.1m in SGC Oxford, specifically to deliver characterised chemical probes 3D structure for this target, or I have this probe, would you put it into your assay?’. We’ll get a joint publication out of it — this couldn’t happen so easily in pharma.” Driving partnership One of the drivers of industry–academic partnerships, according to Dr TralauStewart’s paper, is that academia is well-placed to consider and anticipate potential hypotheses for project attrition, citing the search for the universal cureall blockbuster with broad market penetration, and misleading animal disease models. Dr Bountra’s experience with animal models in industry suggests that one cannot automatically assume a molecule will work in the clinic because it worked in an animal model: “Ultimately, target validation happens in the clinic, not in animal models.” Industry may also learn from the creative and dedicated culture of excellence that can be fostered in academia under the right conditions, as Dr Bountra observes: “These people will not accept failure — they have ownership, passion and commitment; for example Frankie [Dr Frank von Delft] our crystallographer, routinely works 72-hour stints — literally day and night. Unless you say ‘I really want to do it, I care about this project, and I want to make it a success,’ its not going to happen. These guys have it.” Having the right culture, focus, talent and metrics is a rarity in both industry and academia, and Dr Bountra thoughtfully concludes: “I think we sit somewhere between industry and academia.” References 1. Author interview with Bountra, C., 12 December 2008, Oxford, UK. 2. Tralau-Stewart, C. et al, “Drug discovery: new models for industryacademic partnerships,” Drug Discovery Today 14, 95–101 (2009). “These people will not accept failure — they have ownership, passion and commitment.” for proteins involved in epigenetic signalling. Along with the money comes in-kind contribution worth £10m of highthroughput screening over the next four years, supplied by the NIH in Washington and the chemistry capabilities at GSK. Despite success in structural biology and chemistry, Dr Bountra readily concedes that SGC cannot do everything, and explains why they manage over ~100 scientific collaborations: “The great thing about working here is that when you don’t take out IP, everyone wants to collaborate with you. Imagine — I could go to Imperial College and say ‘I have the 13 CALENDAR Next month’s pharma events 3 NEWS Pharma’s next ten years 4 FROM THE EDITOR Obama and Pharma! 5 DEALS The top 15 pharma deals of 2008
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