PRESS RELEASES/IN THE NEWS

16th February 2010 Medical Research Council Technology and O2h (Cambridge, UK) announced today an agreement under which O2h will provide multi-FTE -synthetic chemistry services to the drug discovery programmes at MRCT

Click here for the press release (PDF)

4th February 2010 MRCT's Centre for Therapeutics Discovery (CTD) has launched its first call for targets today. CTD are looking for small molecule drug discovery and therapeutic antibody targets from academic researchers.

Click here for the press release (PDF) or here to visit the Call For Targets website

12th January 2010 MBM ScienceBridge GmbH has negotiated a licence agreement between Georg-August University Göttingen, Universitätsmedizin, the University of Regensburg, and the UK’s Medical Research Council Technology for a new therapy of inflammatory and immune diseases.

Click here for the press release (PDF)

27th November 2009 DiscoveRX, GSK & MRCT collaboration to de-orphanise GPCRs mentioned in an article about universities driving new technology businesses in the West Midlands

Click here to read the full article (Financial Times)

• 6th October 2009 Bicycle Therapeutics Ltd, a new MRC spin out company seeking to merge the best aspects of small molecules and biologics, has secured seed funding from top venture capital firms.

Bicycle Therapeutics Ltd, a new biotechnology company developing a novel technology platform for the creation of a new generation of biotherapeutics, has secured seed funding from Atlas Venture and Novartis Venture Fund. The company is a spin-out from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge. Its technology platform is based on the pioneering work of the founding scientists Sir Gregory Winter, a scientific founder for both CAT and Domantis, and Dr. Christian Heinis. The new company is managed by Dr. John Tite (Chief Executive Officer) and is based in Cambridge.

Click here to read the full press release (pdf).

• 23rd September 2009 DiscoveRx Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Medical Research Council Technology (MRCT) have announced a three way alliance to seek out natural substances that bind to G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).

Click here for the MRC press release.

• 10th September 2009 MRC scientists identify a number of promising candidates for anti-tuberculosis agents from amongst previously known drugs.

There is an urgent need to develop new anti-tuberculosis drugs, as underlined by the ongoing rise in world-wide cases and in particular the prevalence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis strains. Kathryn Lougheed, working in Roger Buxton's group in NIMR's Division of Mycobacterial Research, has collaborated with the Drug Discovery Group at MRC Technology to screen a large number of substances for anti-tubercular activity.

Click here to read the NIMR press release.

• 7th September 2009 Medical Research Council (MRC) scientist Dr Adrian Owen is helping the BBC find out whether brain training games actually improve brain performance in tonight's episode of Bang! Goes The Theory.

Dr Owen, working at the MRC's Cognition and Brain Science Unit in Cambridge, has developed a scientific brain training website to help research how the brain works, using funding from MRC and MRC Technology.

Click here for the MRC press release.

• 13th August 2009 Medical Research Council scientists advance understanding of cell death. Scientists at the MRC Toxicology Unit, based at the University of Leicester, have made an important advance in the understanding of biological processes involved when cells are prompted to die. The work may help the eventual development of new treatments for the many common diseases and conditions which occur when cell death goes wrong, including cancers, some neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and immune diseases such as autoimmune lymphoproliferative disease (ALPS).

The findings are the subject of a patent application filed by MRC Technology.

For further information, please click here.

• 22nd July 2009 Human Genome Sciences announces new order for
Raxibacumab (Abthrax™) from U.S. government. Raxibacumab, a human monoclonal antibody is a first-in-class treatment for anthrax, developed in a collaboration between Cambridge Antibody Technology (an MRC start-up company) and HGS using combinatorial antibody library technology, originally invented at the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Scripps Research Institute (San Diego).

This development shows the importance of antibodies as biologics, a key area of research pursued by MRC Technology and MRC. It also highlights the strong economic impact such drugs can have, with Raxibacumab estimated to bring $151 million in revenue over next three years.

Links
Press Release
About Raxibacumab

• 20th July 2009 Human Genome Sciences (HGS) & GlaxoSmithKline recently announced positive Phase 3 study results for Benlysta™ (belimumab) in systemic lupus erythematosus. Belimumab is a human monoclonal antibody which was initially developed in a collaboration between Cambridge Antibody Technology (an MRC start-up company) and HGS using combinatorial antibody library technology, originally invented at the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Scripps Research Institute (San Diego).

Lupus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can affect virtually any system in the body. For more information visit http://www.uklupus.co.uk/

Click here to read more (GSK website)

• 2nd April 2009 MRC and MRCT launch Centre for Therapeutics Discovery - a major centre to fast-track the discovery and development of novel drugs

Click here to read the press release (PDF)

• 24th February 2009 MRC spin out Heptares Secures GBP21 Million in Series A Fund Raising to Accelerate Development of Pipeline of Small Molecules Against High-Value GPCR Drug Targets

Click here to read more

• 23rd February 2009 MRCT anounce the 1st Annual Symposium of the new UK Drug Discovery Consortium on March 11th 2009. The consortium members include: ‘Imperial College London‘, ‘Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research’, ‘ Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee’, ‘Cancer Research Technology (CRT)’, ‘MRC Technology’ and the ‘Wellcome Trust’.

Click here to read the press release (PDF).

• 27th January 2009 MRCT Licence Rights to Develop Potential Novel Immunotherapy
London, UK, 27th January 2009 – The Medical Research Council (MRC) & MRC Technology (MRCT) have signed exclusive License and Research Collaboration agreements with Centocor, Inc., which is now known as Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc., for the development of a novel immunotherapy targeting respiratory disease.

Click here to read the press release.

• 14th July 2008 MRC Technology complete collaboration to humanize antibody indicated in Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis.

Click here to read the press release.

• 25th June 2008 Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. and Medical Research Council Technology (U.K.) reach important milestone in generating an Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Antibody. Read the press release online or as a PDF.

• 8th June 2008 MRCT secures a further £6 million of funding for continuation of the Development Gap Fund. For further information, please click here.

• 17th May 2008 A possible cure for jet lag?

Dr Michael Hastings at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology has found that c-AMP plays an important part in regulation of body clocks, and believes that manipulation of the molecule could lead to new treatments for conditions such as jet lag and other sleep disorders. MRCT has filed a patent application for the discovery, and the research was published in Science. MRCT Business Manager Dr Nicole Mathon commented, "We are hoping that industry will pick up on this interesting discovery so that we can foster a collaboration to start a drug discovery programme." For further information, please click here.

• 15th April 2008 New Tysabri data released

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) and Elan Corporation, plc have announced new data on the global utilization, safety and overall patient exposure of TYSABRI® ((natalizumab); humanized by MRCT). "These data suggest that neurologists and patients are increasingly choosing TYSABRI for the treatment of their disease."
Click here to read the full article on PharmaLive.

• 12th March 2008 OPT image wins Special Award at Wellcome Image Awards

An image created using the Optical Projection Tomography scanner has won a Special Award at the 2008 Wellcome Image Awards. Click here to see the award-winning images.

• 12th February 2008 MRCT is delighted to welcome Dr Dave Tapolczay as its new CEO

• 14th December 2007 "The way out: how malaria parasites escape the red blood cell"

The MRC & MRC Technology announced today that a collaboration between teams at the MRC’s National Institute for Medical Research and MRCT’s Drug Discovery Group has produced a breakthrough in understanding how the malaria parasite triggers its release from infected red blood cells.

Click here to read full press release (PDF)
Click here to read article in Cell

"Breakthrough by scientists in Scotland is set to ensure that the simple fruit fly plays a key role in the understanding of human diseases, from cancer to infertility to Alzheimer's...using optical projection tomography (OPT)". Click here to read the full story

• 6th August 2007 Intellect Neurosciences, Inc and Medical Research Council Technology (U.K.) Enter into Agreement to Humanize Two Monoclonal Antibodies for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. Click here to read the full press release

• 15th July 2007 Organon and MRC Technology Sign Antibody Development Agreement

Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel, together with MRC Technology (London, UK) announced today that they have signed a collaborative agreement to develop a humanised antibody for the treatment of certain forms of cancer. Click here to read the full press release

• 28th February, 2007 MRC Technology and Ginkgo Biomedical Research Institute Sign Agreement to Humanize Novel Mouse Antibody to Treat SLE. Click here to read the press release

• 10th November 2006 MRCT CEO Roberto Solari interviewed about the future of healthcare in The Sun

• 2nd October, 2006 MRC Technology and BioArctic Neuroscience Sign Agreement to Humanise Novel Mouse Antibody to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease. To read the full press release please click here

• 12th July 2006: Domantis, a spin-out company from the MRC, is the first to win the UK Innovation in Drug Discovery & Development Award.

To read the full report please click here

• 15th June 2006: House of Commons Science and Technology select committe report recommends MRCT as model for commercialising research.

"We commend the steps taken by MRC to actively exploit the research resulting from their investment and we urge RCUK and the other Councils to follow the example of MRCT where appropriate. " (5.74)

"the MRC are professional with their MRCT group and their licensing activity" (5.74)

To read the full report please click here

• 6th June 2006: TYSABRI ®, an Antibody Humanised by MRC Technology, Gains Market Approval from the FDA to Treat Multiple Sclerosis

MRC Technology (London, UK) are pleased to learn that Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) and Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) yesterday announced the approval of a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the reintroduction of TYSABRI ® ( natalizumab) as a monotherapy treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) to slow the progression of disability and reduce the frequency of clinical relapses... For a PDF of the full Press Release please click here

• June 2006: Fluorescent sensors developed at NIMR licensed to a major company and now available commercially.

Two fluorescent protein-based sensors developed in the Division of Physical Biochemistry at the MRC NIMR, as part of research into motility proteins, have been licensed to Invitrogen through MRC Technology. They are now being marketed, ensuring the availability of these technologies both to Industry for high throughput assays and to academic research laboratories. These sensors are highly sensitive and rapid probes to important small molecules, such as inorganic phosphate, ADP and GDP.

> NDP Sensor Protein (NDPK)

> Phosphate Sensor

• 10th March 2006: MRCT today announced an important drug discovery collaboration with the National Centre for Drug Screening (NCDS), Shanghai .

• 5th December 2005: MRCT today announced the creation of the Therapeutic Antibody Group (TAG) which will comprise former AERES scientists. As part of MRCT’s evolving strategy of adding significant value to key MRC intellectual property assets, TAG will collaborate with MRC scientists to translate innovative drug targets into potent and selective therapeutic antibody candidates which can then be partnered with industry for progression into pre-clinical and clinical studies. Click here for press release. Click here for list of TAG humanised antibodies

• 23 August 2005: Recent Project funded by the Development Gap Fund - "New immunotherapeutic approach for the treatment of TB". Read more on the MRC News site... For more information call the MRC press office on +44 (0)207 637 6011.

• 2 March 2005: MRCT announces substantial funding for research into drug targets. Read more on the MRC News Site... For more information call the MRC press office on +44 (0)207 637 6011.

• 13 Sep 2004: IDBS, in collaboration with MRC Technology's Drug Discovery Group, produces groundbreaking new software which predicts potential new malaria therapeutics at fraction of usual time and cost. Read the press release.