Drug discovery lab to open in Dundee

Education Secretary Michael Russell has announced the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) is to receive £8m in funding to create a UK national phenotyping screening centre dedicated to drug discovery research.

The funding will provide the new lab, which is to be situated at the University of Dundee, with state-of-the-art robotic drug screening equipment designed to enable the more effective development of drug therapies.

“This is a hugely exciting development for the development of new medicines

Michael Russell MP

“Today’s announcement of £8 million for new equipment, in combination with the European Lead Factory at Biocity in Newhouse, will put Scottish universities at the forefront of drug discovery worldwide,” Russell said, ahead of his visit to the university.

“This is a hugely exciting development for the development of new medicines worldwide and I am very proud of Scotland’s role in research, past, present and future,” he added.

According to Russell, SULSA has determined that the University of Dundee will host the centre and it will work with some of Europe’s top pharmaceutical companies to form a large public-private partnership in the field of novel therapy research and development.

This announcement comes after biopharmaceuticals firm UCB officially opened its antibody discovery lab in Berkshire on Monday.