From Alexander Fleming’s discovery of antibiotics to Francis Crick and James Watson’s groundbreaking work on the structure of DNA, the UK has a proud record of encouraging, nurturing and developing medical breakthroughs. But there is much more still to do in the battle of the most challenging diseases facing our ageing population and these discoveries don’t just happen by themselves. If research is to result in real gains for patients, scientists need the right funding, facilities, and spaces to share ideas and innovations.
“MSD’s motto is ‘Inventing for Life’,” says Dr Fiona Marshall, head of discovery research at global healthcare company MSD. “We’re first and foremost a research and development (R&D) company with a rich history in discovery. From being the first company to produce the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine in 1944, we have continued to bring pioneering medicines in areas such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer as well as developing novel vaccines and addressing antibiotic resistance. We are at one of the most challenging but also exciting times in which cutting-edge innovation and R&D may one day delay or halt the onset of age-related conditions so that we remain healthy for as long as possible as we get older.”
Marshall says the hub will enable MSD to provide its scientists with the best environment to help them achieve their goals. To do this successfully will involve attracting the best people in research as well as collaborating with universities and other companies, particularly small biotech companies.
“The way that we are structured, bringing together disciplines across R&D around the world means that our scientists get training across the whole portfolio of techniques that you need to know about when designing drugs and taking them through development,” she says.
“We work hard to encourage and develop an entrepreneurial spirit in our scientists, which prepares them for a career focused on discovery and innovation, critical for the UK’s life sciences ecosystem, so we can continue fighting diseases.”
Diseases associated with ageing, such as dementia have become a huge public health issue and are not going to be tackled alone by any one company – partnership and collaboration are vital if we are to succeed. MSD is creating its new drug discovery hub in London, a city home to other prominent research institutions including the Francis Crick Institute, and leading universities such as King’s College, Imperial College and UCL. The London location will put the hub at the heart of the innovation triangle – Oxford, Cambridge, London – facilitating easier collaborations with the UK’s top universities. “It’s a vibrant and dynamic environment, which is helping us to recruit people who are excited and motivated to work in drug research, who come from diverse backgrounds and have different ways of thinking about things,” says Marshall.
The drug discovery centre will house around 150 research scientists and will be, says Marshall, “the laboratory of the future for today” – with state-of-the-art equipment and AI, enabling research into a range of different drugs and delivery methods, from pills to biologic therapies that fight or even prevent disease. “Particularly, we want to understand changes in homeostasis so we can drive early research to rapidly identify and progress novel therapeutic targets. Cells have to regulate all of their activities and keep those in balance. As you get older, some of those things go out of balance and that makes you more susceptible to diseases. Initially, our focus will be on diseases of neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer’s but, as we expand, we can focus on other types of diseases and research new types of therapies to combat them.”
At any one time, the company conducts approximately 100 clinical trials in the UK with multiple partners from leading institutions here and around the world.
Dr Michael England, country medical director for UK and Ireland agrees that partnership is key: “Sharing and pooling ideas with the NHS, academia and research institutions is incredibly important and is now expected. This collaboration has yielded important steps forward when combating important diseases.”
Innovation at MSD is nothing new. The company was behind the first ever vaccine to help prevent certain human papilloma virus (HPV) related cancers.
“MSD has also been at the forefront of the fight against hepatitis C and other infectious diseases for 30 years. Targeted treatments are now available that have really revolutionised outcomes for patients. A few years ago, hepatitis C infection may well have led to cirrhosis of the liver in many individuals that can be fatal. Now, hepatitis C infection can be cured in many cases, and the government is leading an initiative to eliminate hepatitis C from the UK. MSD, along with other companies, is partnering with the UK government to support this ambition.
“With the emerging HIV epidemic back in the mid-1980s, our scientists were among the first to discover and develop medicines for the treatment of HIV. This research continues today with the hope of one day finding a cure.”
MSD is also spearheading new ways to fight cancer through an approach called immuno-oncology, which uses the body’s immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells. “One of the things cancer can do very effectively is evade and shut down the body’s own immune system, thus preventing it from recognising and killing the abnormal cancer cells,” says England. “Treatments now exist that inhibit the mechanism that some of these cancer cells use to achieve that end. The treatments therefore allow the immune system to recognise and react to the abnormal cells and ultimately kill them.”
And that innovation happens at all levels of the company. In Cramlington, Northumberland, the company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility makes approximately 5bn tablets a year and supplies to more than 60 different countries. Revenue from the site’s portfolio of breakthrough products supports the innovation and development of new treatments.
“The site has been manufacturing and packaging tablets for more than 40 years and all of that time we have been at the leading edge of automated tablet manufacturing. We pride ourselves on that capability,” says Michael Whale, plant manager. “We are leading-edge both in the type of equipment that we have and also how we use that equipment. Just this year we have made a multi-million pound investment in innovative continuous manufacturing technology, which will enable us to accelerate product development for future medicines and be more agile with batch size, ultimately speeding up flow of products to our patients.”
The future, says Marshall, is exciting, with new areas of research opening up all the time. “Medical research now is moving at an exponential pace,” she says. “We understand a lot more about how individuals respond to diseases, and there are lots of new strategies for how we can intervene. There are many different ways of altering the functions of cells and proteins to combat disease – it’s not just about a pill anymore.”
CORP-1268265-0001; Date of preparation: September 2018
