Oxford and GSK launch Experimental Medicine Collaboration

The pharmaceutical multinational GSK is investing £10 million over five years to establish the Experimental Medicine Collaboration with the University of Oxford.

The GSK and University of Oxford Experimental Medicine Collaboration (EMC) is a pioneering partnership that aims to redefine the approach to studying and treating immune mediated inflammatory diseases. Through the integration of cutting-edge molecular insights with clinical advancements, the EMC will allow testing of multiple medicines across cellular mechanisms in parallel. 

The EMC will be led by Oxford’s Professor Christopher Buckley - Kennedy Trust Feldmann Maini Professor of Translational Medicine, Director of the Oxford Experimental Medicine Clinical Research Facility (EMCRF) and NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Theme Lead for Inflammation Across Tissues - alongside Dr Eric Olson, Vice President and Head of Early Development Leaders at GSK.

GSK will provide a £10 million infrastructure grant for the Oxford EMCRF, a National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) supported clinical research facility providing a resource for early phase, experimental medicine studies across the Oxford Medical Sciences Division.

The Oxford EMCRF, which involves close collaboration between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, plays a key role in the clinical translational strategy of the NIHR Oxford BRC and its 15 specialist research themes and is key enabling infrastructure for this collaboration. 

Dame Fiona Powrie, Director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology and a Professor of Musculoskeletal Sciences at the University of Oxford, said: "This exciting new collaboration represents the best of Oxford’s translational science in action. By partnering with GSK through the EMC, we aim to revolutionise how inflammatory diseases are studied and treated. This initiative brings together world-class expertise, cutting-edge facilities, and a bold approach to accelerate the transition from lab-based discovery to patient benefit."

Professor Buckley said: "The Experimental Medicine Collaboration with GSK enables us to rethink how we approach early-phase clinical studies. By focusing on experimental medicine trials in which we aim to establish cellular causality, we can de-risk drug development by understanding how therapies interact with disease at the cellular level. 

“Our ability to run parallel studies across multiple diseases puts us in a unique position to drive forward precision treatments faster and more efficiently than ever before." 

The collaboration will combine the outstanding drug discovery, target validation and clinical development of GSK with Oxford’s exceptional track record in the research and development of new drug therapies.