Update: CHANCELLOR GORDON BROWN OPENS DRUG DISCOVERY UNIT
26 January 2005
Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, this week officially opened the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee, a £13 million initiative to tackle some of the world's most neglected diseases.
Mr Brown praised the Unit's work, saying it gives hope for thousands of people who die unnecessarily and avoidably every year.
The Chancellor also underlined the importance of life sciences to the economy, both locally and across Scotland.
Mr Brown was joined on a tour of the Drug Discovery Unit's laboratories by Sir Dominic Cadbury, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Wellcome Trust. The Trust last year made one of its largest grants – £8.1 million – to a team led by Professor Mike Ferguson and Professor Alan Fairlamb, to help establish the Drug Discovery Unit, which is the first facility of its kind in Europe.
The Unit aims to translate basic research discoveries into candidate drugs ready for clinical trials. The diseases, which include African sleeping sickness, Chagas' disease and leishmaniasis, are among the most neglected in the world. Despite the fact that they affect millions of the world's poorest people, these diseases have attracted little or no interest from pharmaceutical companies.
There are over 140 000 reported deaths from African sleeping sickness, Chagas' disease and leishmaniasis each year, although it is generally agreed this figure is an underestimate because of the lack of medical reporting in many under-developed countries.
At present no vaccines exist to prevent these debilitating and often lethal infections.
The University of Dundee team's members are renowned for their academic contributions to tropical disease research. Together, the 76 scientists span all the disciplines needed to go from biology to drug design, synthesis and the testing of new therapies for tropical diseases.
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See also
- Neglected diseases drug discovery gets £8.1m boost (News: 25 October 2005)
- Neglected diseases: New drugs on the way? (News: 8 September 2005)
- Research: Neglected diseases sequenced (News: 15 July 2005)
External links
- Chancellor Gordon Brown opens Drug Discovery Unit (University of Dundee press release)