GlaxoSmithKline and Cambridge University form open collaboration

GlaxoSmithKline has announced a new open innovation drug discovery programme with the University of Cambridge.

The initiative will see GlaxoSmithKline staff working alongside scientists from the university on drug discovery projects and the development of new medicines, leveraging expertise from both organisations.

Researchers will be based at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, the UK's first open innovation bioscience campus, co-located with GlaxoSmithKline's research and development centre.

Key to this new arrangement will be its open innovation basis, which means that knowledge can be exchanged without the need to sign exclusive research collaboration agreements.

Patrick Vallance, president of pharmaceuticals research and development at GlaxoSmithKline, said: "This open innovation approach is enabling scientists who might not ordinarily have interacted to build relationships, share ideas and seek advice."

This comes after the firm announced a collaboration with Yale University last month, focusing on the development of a new class of medicines using proteolysis-targeting chimeric molecules.