GSK, Harvard ink stem cell research pact

Maureen Martino — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:30:04 -0400

In another instance of the industry teaming up with academia, GlaxoSmithKline and Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) announced that they have signed a five-year, $25 million pact to research and possibly develop stem cell drugs. GSK will fund HSCI's research in several areas, including neuroscience, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, musculoskeletal diseases and obesity. The company will also fund an annual grant, which supports early stage research in stem cell biology.

Part of the draw for GSK, apparently, is the concentration of skilled biotech workers in the Boston area. "We have carefully chosen the Boston biomedical community to collaborate with on this important venture. It has the highest concentration of leading stem cell scientists, and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute is the epicenter of that community," said Patrick Vallance, GSK's drug discovery chief. The Boston Globe notes that the deal is one of the largest stem cell investments ever made by a Big Pharma company.

- see this GSK release
- read the Boston Globe's report

'Pharma postman' Langer wins €800,000 tech prize

John Carroll — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:19:59 -0400

The prolific Harvard/MIT scientist Robert Langer, whose ideas have spawned a string of biotech start-ups, has won the €800,000 Millennium Technology Prize. Langer has been credited with creating new "smart pills" that can hit a precise disease target with a precise dose. That work has earned him the nickname of biotech's "pharmaceutical postman." He holds more than 600 patents.

Langer says he's now working on "using ultrasound to open the nano pores of the skin so that drugs can pass in non-invasively. It's like Star Trek but if you had the choice between being injected or not injected, you know which one you would choose".

- read the report in the India Times

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