GSK has announced a £50m ($54.3m) investment in a new partnership with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals to expedite immune-related disease research and development (R&D).
The five-year partnership, which builds on their existing scientific partnership, will be known as the Cambridge-GSK Translational Immunology Collaboration.
Its focus will be on refining the treatment of immune-related diseases with current therapies and accelerating the creation of new ones. This will be achieved by deepening GSK's research into disease mechanisms, progression, patient response and the development of translational biomarkers.
The collaboration will specifically target respiratory and kidney diseases.
Cambridge University Hospitals will play a crucial role in the partnership, with the Royal Papworth Hospital also expected to join as a partner.
The Cambridge Biomedical Campus will be instrumental in most of the partnership’s activities related to research, and provides an environment that combines academia, healthcare and industry backed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.
GSK chief scientific officer Tony Wood stated: “Collaboration is at the heart of scientific progress and is fundamental to how we do R&D at GSK. We’re excited to build on our existing work with the University of Cambridge to further this world-leading scientific and technological capability in the UK.
“By bringing together Cambridge’s expertise and our own internal capabilities, including an understanding of the immune system and the use of AI to accelerate drug development, we have an opportunity to help patients struggling with complex disease.”
The collaboration will adopt a "translational" approach, centred around patients and utilising AI and machine learning (ML).
By integrating patient data with AI/ML technologies, the research team aims to tackle challenging diseases impacting the kidneys and lungs.
In November 2023, Cambridge University's spin-out T-Therapeutics raised £48m ($59.7m) in Series A financing to develop T cell receptor therapies.
