GSK founds oncology unit

Last December GlaxoSmithKline said that it had more plans to shake up R&D [1]. The company had already created Centres of Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD) and laid off thousands of workers in order to streamline the company. So what's next? A new oncology-focused unit, according to a statement release at the European Society of Medical Oncology meeting.

GSK Oncology, as it will be known, will consolidate small discovery units and a highly specialised drug development group to create an oncology R&D center within the company. Vice President of Oncology R&D Paolo Paoletti (photo [2]) will head the whole thing up.

"The newly formed GSK R&D Oncology Unit is directly aligned with our R&D strategy to deliver more products of value, and will help us increase our efforts towards personalised medicine in oncology," said Moncef Slaoui, Chairman, Research and Development. "This dedicated unit will have the primary goals of identifying new targets and pathways, conducting innovative clinical research and cost-effectively increasing development capacity in order to deliver the unit's large portfolio of medicines." The announcement was made in conjunction with the European Society of Medical Oncology meeting.

- here's GSK's release [3] on the new unit

Related Articles:
GSK shakes up R&D [1]
GSK plant closure begins 5,000 job cuts [4]
Behind the scenes of GSK's overhaul [5]