Lilly invests in UK research base
pharmafile | May 2, 2012 | News story | Research and Development | Elil Lilly, Erl Wood, neuroscience
Eli Lilly has officially opened new research facilities at its R&D base in Erl Wood in Surrey.
The site near Woking in the south of England is the pharma company’s biggest R&D site outside the US, and has been conducting neuroscience drug discovery since the 1960s. Erl Wood’s greatest claim to fame is that Lilly’s atypical antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine) was discovered on the site.
Now the company is building on its neuroscience research with a new facility to house scientists working on early drug development work. The £5.4 million building will house 130 staff across disciplines such as pharmacokinetics, clinical pharmacology and statistics.
This multidisciplinary team will work not just on neuroscience, but on compounds being developed across Lilly’s pipeline, including treatments in oncology and metabolic diseases, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions.
Dr Jan Lundberg, head of R&D at Lilly said: “Lilly is proud of its history and heritage of pharmaceutical innovation in the UK at Erl Wood. This is the latest stage of an ongoing investment programme to ensure Erl Wood remains at the forefront of what is possible in life science research. It’s also a measure of Lilly’s commitment to developing the next generation of treatments for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
The news of Lilly’s continued investment is good news for the UK research sector, which has seen hundreds of jobs lost in recent years from other companies cutting back in-house operations.
Among Lilly’s 12 molecules in Phase III development, three are in neuroscience – edivoxetine for depression, pomaglumetad for schizophrenia and solanezumab for Alzheimer’s disease.
Lilly hopes these and other late-stage molecules will be able to replace blockbusters like Zyprexa, which saw its US patent expire in November last year. The most eagerly results are for Alzheimer’s candidate, solanezumab, which are due in Q3 this year.
Andrew McConaghie
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