GSK drug discovery gets F1 boost

Since its inception in September 2011, the focus of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) partnership with McLaren and its applied technology arm has been the development of GSK’s data analysis capabilities as a means of improving areas of its business such as manufacturing and drug-discovery.

Though still in its infancy, the project has already improved GSK’s toothpaste manufacturing capabilities - increasing the company’s output by seven million tubes of toothpaste per year.

This level of enhanced productivity is now being applied across almost all areas of GSK’s business - in particular its ability to develop new medicines at a much faster rate.

“McLaren is a very data-driven company,” GSK spokesperson Sarah Hornby told Laboratorytalk.

“A lot of their decisions are formed on data analysis - something GSK is harnessing across its drug discovery business.”

“During the drug discovery process, our scientists investigate millions of compounds which forms a huge database of information,” Hornby explained.

Alongside experts from McLaren, GSK scientists are employing superior data analysis techniques to hone in much more quickly on those molecules that will be used in the development of new pharmaceuticals.

“[In this area] our work with McLaren involves analysing data in a more efficient way so our scientists can make decisions far more quickly about which compounds will be used to develop the next medicines,” Hornby said.