Extra funds for disease research

The money will secure 50 jobs in Dundee over the next four years

Scientists in Dundee have been given £10.8m to continue developing new drugs for global diseases.

The work is being carried out in the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT) - a collaboration between Dundee University and pharmaceutical firms.

The funding will secure 50 jobs in the city for the next four years.

The money comes from five of the world's top pharmaceutical companies - AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck KGaA and Pfizer.

The DSTT was founded in 1998 and expanded in 2003. Over that period it has attracted funding of £23m.

'Successful collaboration'

Sir Philip Cohen, one of the directors of the DSTT, said: "Collaborations between academic laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry typically last a few years.

"Therefore to maintain and expand support until 2012 when three of the participating companies will have been funding the DSTT for 14 years is unprecedented; we must be doing something right."

Fellow director Professor Dario Alessi added: "I am delighted that the agreement has been renewed, as this will enable us to translate our recent research findings and ideas into potential new drug therapies for the treatment of cancer, hypertension and Parkinson's disease."

Dr Malcolm Skingle of GlaxoSmithKline said: "This has been a very successful collaboration over the past 10 years and we are delighted to see it continue.

"This project has shown the benefits that can come from pharmaceutical companies like ourselves working hand-in-hand with top flight research at the University of Dundee."