Pharma

Winners of GSK academic drug hunter program include antibiotics,tropical disease targets

Antibiotics to address the growing threat posed by bacteria strains resistant to currently available drugs are among the winning entries of a GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) program to fast track academic research, according to a company statement. It’s part of a wider life science industry trend of pharmaceutical companies using innovative approaches to expand their drug […]

By Stephanie Baum on November 06, 2013 5:15 pm

Antibiotics to address the growing threat posed by bacteria strains resistant to currently available drugs are among the winning entries of a GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) program to fast track academic research, according to a company statement. It’s part of a wider life science industry trend of pharmaceutical companies using innovative approaches to expand their drug pipelines.

Academic researchers chosen for the Discovery Partnerships fast track program will get access to the big pharma company’s resources, such as access to compounds to screen and proprietary software to validate their research and assess the potential of new medicines. The selected projects were whittled down from 143 applications from 70 universities, academic research centers and hospitals in North America.

Here’s a list of the winners:

  • Sarah Ades of Pennsylvania State University: A novel approach for an anti-microbial agent class of antibiotic for gram negative bacteria;
  • Dr. Rahul Kohli, University of Pennsylvania: A novel approach for the design of antibiotics to overcome clinical resistance;
  •  Dr. Myles Akabas, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University: A novel approach for new treatments for malaria;
  • Lauren Brown and Scott Schaus of Boston University and Dr. Jim McKerrow of University of California, San Francisco: A novel approach for new treatments for leishmaniasis;
  • Richard Leduc of Université de Sherbrooke: A novel approach for new treatments for iron overload diseases;
  • Deborah O’Brien of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: A novel approach to regulation of male fertility;
  • John Sondek of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: A novel approach for new treatments for metastatic epithelial cancers;
  • Harvard Medical School declined to list the winner and project description.

The 3-year-old program got its start in the UK, where GSK is headquartered. Since 2010, it has initiated two collaborations in the U.S. It’s working with Vanderbilt University to develop a group of drugs to treat severe obesity. A partnership with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is developing muscular dystrophy therapeutics.

Pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Bayer Healthcare, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have set up innovation centers and other programs to help them do a better job of spotting innovative technology opportunities in the early stages.

 [Photo Credit: Freedigitalphotos user jscreationz]