The Oxford-GSK Institute of Molecular and Computational Medicine
Formed in 2022, you can discover more about the vision that led to the establishment of the IMCM on these pages.
Progress in 2023
Over the past 10 months we have successfully recruited talented scientists to the IMCM to join our joint project teams.
Collectively the joint teams combine the very best scientific, clinical, technological and computational expertise from the University of Oxford and GSK, using technologically advanced tools and innovative research methodologies.
Already they have started to improve tools in, and knowledge from, genetics, genomics, molecular and single cell biology, spatial imaging, machine learning and novel methods of data handling to study the pattern of diseases in new ways.
Our new model of collaboration is enabling us to be more nimble and flexible than ever before. As a result, we have made helpful discoveries early in the life of the programme.
We know that the work being done now by our world class research scientists will, in time have the potential to help prioritise those early R&D programmes most likely to succeed and match them to patients most likely to respond.
Finding new and better ways to help patients is at the very heart of everything we do.
Our Launch in 2022 – The Vision Then
We aim to improve the success and speed of research and development of new medicines, building on insights from human genetics and using advanced technologies such as functional genomics and machine learning.
Genetic evidence has already been shown to double success rates in clinical studies of new treatments, and the digitisation of human biology has the potential to improve drug discovery by more closely linking genes to patients. We will build on this scientific progress and improve how diseases are understood by drawing on recent advances in pathology, including how to measure changes on a cellular, protein, or tissue level.
The Institute will evaluate and integrate new approaches in genetics, proteomics and digital pathology to understand detailed patterns of disease which vary amongst individuals. The initial focus of research will be on neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, said: 'On behalf of colleagues across Oxford I would like to say how delighted we are by this new initiative with GSK. The Institute will create a unique partnership with staff from the university’s medical school and GSK working together?. In addition, the Institute, in keeping with our educational mission, will provide training and build capacity in Britain’s academic and bioscience sectors.'
Emma Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer, GSK said: 'We are delighted to be joining with the University of Oxford in this new collaboration. By combining the strengths of our two scientific organisations and harnessing advanced technologies, the Oxford-GSK Institute exemplifies the UK’s track-record and continued ambition in life sciences. Together, our aim is to improve drug discovery and development to help bring new and better medicines for patients.'
'I am delighted to see that GSK and the University of Oxford are today taking further steps to deepen our understanding of some of the most complex diseases, such as Parkinson’s. Together they will harness the power of scientific collaboration to progress cutting-edge technologies and accelerate drug discovery – helping to cement the UK’s role as a life sciences superpower.'
The genetic and genomic revolution of the past decade has amassed vast datasets of promising targets for medicine discovery. These datasets can be combined with functional genomics to provide deep understanding of disease at a molecular level.
By harnessing this understanding, as well as the power of machine learning, the Institute will uncover new indicators and predictors of disease and use them to accelerate the most promising areas for drug discovery. This is particularly important for GSK as it prioritises the large number of genetically informed drug targets generated from its collaborations with organisations, such as 23andMe and UK Biobank. The Institute will also aim to provide new measurements to establish proof of concept for potential medicines earlier in the R&D process, by better identifying the most appropriate patients to enrol in clinical trials, thus accelerating drug development timelines.
GSK and Oxford bring complementary capabilities and expertise into the Institute. GSK has leading capabilities in human genetics and functional genomics, and an in-house artificial intelligence and machine learning function, including its AI hub in central London. The University of Oxford has similar expertise but together they will be using patient, molecular information and state-of-the-art platforms to pinpoint the GSK targets that are most likely to succeed and be developed into safe, effective, disease mechanism-based medicines.
Diseases driven by neuro-immunological mechanisms including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) will be within the initial scope of the Institute. GSK has a rich pipeline of genetically informed targets and clinical projects in these areas.
The Institute will recruit a number of new research groups, in addition to drawing upon existing expertise from both GSK and Oxford. Five GSK/Oxford fellowships will be provided for early to mid-career researchers to establish themselves as Principal Investigators researching areas aligned with the Institute’s aims and objectives.
The Institute will have its base in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, and be closely associated with colleagues from across departments, including the University’s Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics and Big Data Institute. GSK and Oxford are in active discussions regarding the nature of the first projects which are anticipated to start in the second half of 2022 and will use the latest laboratory and data science platforms and approaches. A completely new way of collaborating will be established where research teams will have both GSK and University members, including secondments between both institutions