For the past 14 years the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit has been helping the pharmaceutical industry to initiate and accelerate that the development of drugs that target kinases and phosphatases in a unique collaboration, called the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT). Founded in 1998, expanded in 2003 and renewed for a second time in 2008, it is widely regarded as a model for how academia and industry can interact productively and was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education in 2006.
The Unit is now delighted to announce the renewal of the collaboration for a further four years from July 1st 2012. The new field of the collaboration will be 'kinases and the ubiquitin system' and will include Programme Leaders from the Protein Ubiquitylation Unit of the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling at Dundee (SCILLS) as well as the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit. The collaboration is being funded by six of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies -- AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Merck-Serono (the Pharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA) and Pfizer. They will provide core support of £14.4 million over the period July 1st 2012 – June 30th 2016 for research on the causes of many diseases including cancer, arthritis, Lupus, hypertension and Parkinsonism.
Kinase drug discovery accounts for about 30% of the R&D budget of the pharmaceutical industry and over 50% of global cancer drug discovery. The ubiquitin system is an emerging area of drug discovery in which Dundee has recently developed great strengths through the recruitment of Professor Hay in 2005 and the founding of the SCILLS in 2008.
Professor Sir Philip Cohen, co-founder of the DSTT with Professor Peter Downes, said, 'Collaborations between academic laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry typically last a few years. Therefore to maintain and expand support for the DSTT from 1998 until at least 2016 is unprecedented and remarkable. It shows how valuable the collaboration has been for the pharmaceutical industry.'
From July 2012, the New Director will be Professor Dario Alessi with Sir Philip and
The Unit is now delighted to announce the renewal of the collaboration for a further four years from July 1st 2012. The new field of the collaboration will be 'kinases and the ubiquitin system' and will include Programme Leaders from the Protein Ubiquitylation Unit of the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling at Dundee (SCILLS) as well as the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit. The collaboration is being funded by six of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies -- AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Merck-Serono (the Pharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA) and Pfizer. They will provide core support of £14.4 million over the period July 1st 2012 – June 30th 2016 for research on the causes of many diseases including cancer, arthritis, Lupus, hypertension and Parkinsonism.
Kinase drug discovery accounts for about 30% of the R&D budget of the pharmaceutical industry and over 50% of global cancer drug discovery. The ubiquitin system is an emerging area of drug discovery in which Dundee has recently developed great strengths through the recruitment of Professor Hay in 2005 and the founding of the SCILLS in 2008.
Professor Sir Philip Cohen, co-founder of the DSTT with Professor Peter Downes, said, 'Collaborations between academic laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry typically last a few years. Therefore to maintain and expand support for the DSTT from 1998 until at least 2016 is unprecedented and remarkable. It shows how valuable the collaboration has been for the pharmaceutical industry.'
From July 2012, the New Director will be Professor Dario Alessi with Sir Philip and