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GlaxoSmithKline’s Open Lab opens doors to scientists

The aim is to drive collaborative research and develop new treatments for forgotten diseases that affect developing countries.

15.12.2011

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BY BIOCAT

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline aims to bring researchers from external scientific centers to their Open Lab in Tres Cantos (Madrid) in order to drive collaborative research and develop new treatments for Malaria, Tuberculosis, Leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and Human African Trypanosomiasis.

“This Open Innovation strategy is designed to accelerate the R&D process for new drugs because, in the case of forgotten diseases, research is highly fragmented. We are a non-profit organization, working through a foundation, and there are many opportunities for collaboration with scientists in Catalonia,” explains José María Bueno, director of Medical Chemistry for the GlaxoSmithKline Diseases of the Developing World (DDW) Drug Discovery Center in Tres Cantos.

“This Open Innovation strategy is designed to accelerate the R&D process for new drugs because. We are a non-profit organization and there are many opportunities for collaboration with scientists"

GlaxoSmithKline’s Open Lab offers scientists, educational centers and research centers the resources and funding they need to develop new ideas. Those interested should send their project proposals, which will be evaluated by a Scientific Committee and the foundation’s Board of Directors. The Scientific Committee, made up of world-renowned experts in the field of research in to diseases affecting the developing world, will provide guidance and set the overall strategy, as well as ensuring the excellence of the projects selected.

“This type of collaboration means that we are more flexible with intellectual property, in access to our know-how and resources, and in sharing our information with the scientific community,” explains José María Bueno.

The Diseases of the Developing World (DDW) Drug Discovery Center in Tres Cantos, with roughly 150 researchers, has three units devoted to research into drugs to treat malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases caused by kinetoplastids (Chagas, sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis), respectively.

Biocat collaborates with this initiative by raising awareness among the Catalan scientific community. Dr. Marta Príncep, Biocat director of Innovation, finds particularly interesting “the non-profit nature of this project. I believe there can be good opportunities to collaborate with Catalan groups or companies.”