The ambition of the partnership is to treat immune-related diseases more precisely with existing therapies and to rapidly develop new ones.
The Cambridge-GSK Translational Immunology Collaboration (CG-TIC) combines University and GSK expertise in the science of the immune system, AI and clinical development with access to patients and their data provided by Cambridge University Hospitals.
GSK is investing more than £50 million in CG-TIC, further strengthening Cambridge’s position as Europe’s leading life sciences cluster.
Researchers in the School of Biological Sciences involved in the partnership will provide insights into the fundamental biology in both kidney and respiratory diseases
GSK plc is making this investment to establish the Cambridge-GSK Translational Immunology Collaboration (CG-TIC), a five-year collaboration with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals. The collaboration is focused on understanding the onset of a disease, its progression, how patients respond to therapies and on developing biomarkers for rapid diagnosis. Ultimately, the goal is to trial more effective, personalised medicines.
The collaboration will focus on kidney and respiratory diseases, both of which affect large numbers of people worldwide. Kidney disease is estimated to affect 850 million people (roughly 10% of the world’s population) (International Society of Nephrology) and chronic respiratory diseases around 545 million (The Lancet).
Brian Ferguson, Associate Professor in Innate Immunity in the Department of Pathology said:
“I am thrilled to help translate our concepts in renal immunology research from cutting-edge fundamental science at the University of Cambridge to therapeutic development by collaborating with our industrial partners. This alliance offers a long term relationship allowing exchange of knowledge and experience, driving further improvements to our mechanistic understanding of renal disease that will lead directly to better treatments."
Emma Rawlins, Professor of Developmental Physiology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience and Gurdon Institute, added:
“This collaboration with GSK is a wonderful opportunity to apply the novel lung organoid and genetic tools that we have been developing in the University to real-world clinical respiratory problems. The research programme will combine aspects of patient experience with cellular models of disease and GSK expertise to help drive the research to new potential therapies.”
To make progress in treating these challenging disease areas, CG-TIC will apply an array of new techniques, including the use of cutting-edge single cell technologies to characterise how genes are expressed in individual cells. AI and machine learning have a critical role to play in transforming how data is combined and interrogated. Working closely with colleagues in the Strategic Partnerships Office,
Using these techniques, the ambition is to be able to initiate new studies and early phase trials of new therapies for a number of hard-to-treat diseases which affect the kidneys. The same techniques will be applied to respiratory diseases and findings will be shared across the disease areas potentially to help identify and share better treatments across these different targets.
Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, welcomed the collaboration: "The UK's life sciences industry is thriving, driving innovation and improving lives. This collaboration between GSK and the University of Cambridge demonstrates our country's leading research and development capabilities.
“By focusing on cutting-edge research and harnessing the power of AI, this partnership has the potential to advance the treatment of immune-related diseases, which could benefit patients both here in the UK and internationally. It's a clear example of how collaboration between industry, academia, and healthcare can deliver tangible results and strengthen the UK's position in healthcare innovation."
Tony Wood, Chief Scientific Officer, GSK, added: “Collaboration is at the heart of scientific progress and is fundamental to how we do R&D at GSK. We’re excited to build on our existing work with the University of Cambridge to further this world-leading scientific and technological capability in the UK. By bringing together Cambridge’s expertise and our own internal capabilities, including understanding of the immune system and the use of AI to accelerate drug development, we have an opportunity to help patients struggling with complex disease.”
Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said: “The University sits at the heart of Europe’s leading life sciences cluster, where excellent research and the NHS’s clinical resources combine with the talent generated by the many innovative bioscience companies that call Cambridge home. Through this very important collaboration with GSK, Cambridge will be able to drive economic growth for the UK while improving the health of people in this country and around the world.”
Roland Sinker, CEO of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, also welcomed the collaboration, saying: “We are very excited to be part of this important partnership, which is another example of Cambridge experts working together to develop transformational new therapies, and use existing ones more precisely, to improve outcomes for patients with chronic and debilitating conditions.”
The Cambridge-GSK Translational Immunology Collaboration will be co-led by Nicolas Wisniacki, VP, Clinical Research Head, GSK (above left) and David Thomas, Professor of Renal Medicine, University of Cambridge and principal investigator at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases.
To bring a partnership of this scale to fruition has been a huge undertaking, requiring alignment between large and complex organisations. On the Cambridge side, the partnership has been led throughout by Tammy Dougan, Life Sciences Lead in the Strategic Partnerships Office, working closely with colleagues in the Schools of Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences and Clinical Medicine.