GlaxoSmithKline to create seventh drug discovery centre of excellence

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to create a seventh Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD), extending the company's new model for pharmaceutical r&d.

The additional CEDD will concentrate on biopharmaceuticals, a field where GSK is progressing a growing number of assets in its early-stage pipeline, and is expected to begin operations by year-end.

Currently, GSK r&d comprises six CEDDs to manage the progression of compounds in the middle of the pipeline and bridge the conventional gap between discovery and development. They bring together scientists and physicians who concentrate on specific disease groupings: cardiovascular and urogenital diseases; metabolic and viral diseases; microbial, musculoskeletal, and proliferative diseases (cancer); neurological and gastrointestinal diseases; psychiatric diseases; and respiratory and inflammatory diseases.

'The CEDDs that were created at the formation of GSK have enabled sharp productivity gains,' said Dr Tadataka Yamada, chairman, research and development, GSK. 'We will now bring the well-defined accountability and entrepreneurial drive that characterise our CEDDs to the promise of our biopharmaceutical portfolio.

'We intend to become an industry leader in providing physicians and their patients with novel biopharmaceutical therapies.'