UNIVERSITY of Dundee, in partnership with the Scottish Universities Life Science Alliance (SULSA), is establishing a new team of scientists on site at BioCity Scotland.
This team will have a key role in the search for new drugs to combat major diseases such as heart disease, cardiovascular problems, cancer and diabetes.
The team has the responsibility for hit characterisation and medicinal chemistry, and will follow up on active compounds for public programmes discovered in the European Lead Factory funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative.
Launched in February 2013, and commended by Scotland’s First Minister, the European Lead Factory is a major European project believed to have attracted the biggest investment of its kind in Scotland.
It is made up of a consortium of 30 participants including academic groups, SMEs and major pharmaceutical companies. The group at Newhouse is funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (£16.3m), the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Government (£3.5m).
A further £75m of proprietary drug compounds which will form the building blocks of new medicines, are being made available by seven international participating pharmaceutical companies. In addition, a further 200,000 bespoke compounds will be prepared and added to these making a unique resource.
The scientist heading this up is director, Dr Phil Jones. Phil is no stranger to the BioCity Scotland site at Newhouse, as he was the former site manager, when the pharmaceutical plant was owned by Merck (MSD).
“It’s great to be back in the premises I know well, and to be building a new team with the prospects of making a valuable contribution to the future of medicine,” says Dr Phil Jones.
“This library at Newhouse will house up to 500,000 compounds and is offered to academics and SMEs across Europe, to allow them to have access to the sorts of facility only available to date to the major companies.
“The funding from IMI is vital and we are looking forward to getting started on this innovative work.”
Premises at BioCity Scotland are available to growing life science companies. On offer are high-quality fully fitted labs and access to specialist lab equipment as well as offices, meeting rooms and conference facilities. The networking opportunities presented by co-locating with other life science businesses and from the numerous onsite events, are exceptional. And a wide range of key business support is available to all tenants.
BioCity Scotland is jointly funded by BioCity Nottingham and Roslin Biocentre. It opened in January 2012, and since that time has recruited 19 new businesses (including five virtual tenancies) to the premises.
ENDS
For more information on the European Lead Factory, please contact:
Hiliana Fienieg, head of marketing and communications, TI Pharma
(Responsible for European Lead Factory communications)
Tel: +31 71 332 2022 | Mobile: +31 6 52673783
E-mail: hiliana.fienieg(at)tipharma.com
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