Researchers from drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and the University of California, San Francisco, will work together to accelerate promising basic science in cancer, obesity and infectious diseases toward new drugs.
Specific financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but GlaxoSmithKline will give early-stage funding for academic discoveries that struggle to receive money via traditional grants. 
The deal is important for a couple reasons as government funding difficulties push industry and academia closer. Except for a windfall from the 2009 economic stimulus package, National Institutes of Health grantors has been increasingly selective over the past decade. Also, the GSK pact is the first with an academic research university under the banner of the company's five-year-old Discovery Partners with Academia program.
UCSF has signed a handful of deals with drug developers over the past decade, including collaborations with Pfizer Inc. and Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. This one differs from sponsored-research, however, in its push to translate promising basic science into human clinical trials and, eventually, new drugs.
GSK and UCSF will start with three projects, selected after a campus-wide call for proposals, in cancer, obesity and antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Dr. Daniel Lowenstein, UCSF executive vice chancellor and provost said that this is a novel approach to engaging with a significant industry partner to translate biological discoveries into new therapies for patients.
And by providing access to the significant expertise and resources at GSK, this collaboration will support the critical early stage in the continuum of research, from proof of concept to clinical development.
View Latest News: