Seven pharma companies offer up compounds to UK researchers

22 July 2014

UK researchers will be granted access to a ‘virtual library’ of deprioritized pharmaceutical compounds through a new partnership between the Medical Research Council (MRC) and seven global drug companies, announced today by Business Secretary Vince Cable.

AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), Janssen Research & Development, a unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Takeda (TYO: 4502) and UCB (Euronext: UCB) will each offer up a number of their deprioritized molecules for use in new studies to improve our understanding of a range of diseases, with a view to developing more effective treatments.

The compounds have undergone some degree of industry development, but have all stalled at some point in early testing – often because they are not sufficiently effective against the disease in question. However, they may still be useful against other diseases with shared biological pathways.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK