GlaxoSmithKline and Yale University to collaborate on drug research

GlaxoSmithKline has announced a new partnership with Yale University focusing on the development of a potential new class of medicines.

The research collaboration will aim to demonstrate that proteolysis-targeting chimeric molecules can be converted into new medical therapies that function by degrading disease-causing proteins.

It will combine Yale University's established work in this field with GlaxoSmithKline's proven expertise in medicinal chemistry, with the goal being to show crucial proof of principle for this technology by the end of 2012.

Kris Famm, head of GlaxoSmithKline's protein degradation programme, said: "This partnership is exploring a new way for promising, but unproven therapeutic approaches to jump from the academic lab more quickly into the early-stage pharmaceutical pipeline."

This is the latest in a series of collaborations between GlaxoSmithKline and academic institutions, which will help to share risk and expertise.

Last month, the company teamed with the University of Nottingham to create a carbon-neutral laboratory for sustainable chemistry.