GlaxoSmithKline to launch new independent research institute

GlaxoSmithKline will be supporting the creation of an independent not-for-profit research institute in Seattle, the Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences.

The company will be making a substantial investment in Altius, which will be dedicated to pioneering new technologies and approaches for decoding how genes are controlled and how a cell's basic functions differ in health and disease.

Altius will be led by the renowned genomics expert Dr John Stamatoyannopoulos and will operate completely independently of GlaxoSmithKline, with which it has signed a ten-year collaboration agreement.

The company will provide funding support for the institution and in turn will benefit from a better understanding of gene control thanks to the institute's work, allowing it to select and validate better drug targets and to accelerate many aspects of drug development.

Lon Cardon, senior vice-president of alternative discovery and development at GlaxoSmithKline, said: "This is not an incremental change. We are aiming for transformative outcomes that could improve our ability to bring innovative and more effective new medicines to patients."

Last month, the company announced a new partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which will focus on the discovery of a new cure for HIV.