GlaxoSmithKline to Extend New R&D Model With Seventh Center of Excellence for Drug Discovery

    LONDON and PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GlaxoSmithKline
 (GSK) announces that it will create a seventh Center of Excellence for Drug
 Discovery (CEDD), extending the company's new model for pharmaceutical
 research and development.
     The additional CEDD will concentrate on biopharmaceuticals, a field where
 GSK is progressing a growing number of assets in its early-stage pipeline. The
 Biopharmaceuticals CEDD will begin operations by year-end.
     "The CEDDs that were created at the formation of GSK have enabled sharp
 productivity gains," said Dr. Tadataka Yamada, chairman, Research and
 Development, GSK. "We will now bring the well-defined accountability and
 entrepreneurial drive that characterize our CEDDs to the promise of our
 biopharmaceutical portfolio. We intend to become an industry leader in
 providing physicians and their patients with novel biopharmaceutical
 therapies."
     Large pharmaceutical companies traditionally specialize in medicines that
 are small molecules, administered orally. Biopharmaceuticals, by contrast, are
 large molecules typically administered by injection or infusion, though
 research continues in other delivery technologies. Examples of
 biopharmaceuticals are monoclonal antibodies, therapeutic vaccines, and
 recombinant therapeutic proteins.
     Currently, GSK R&D comprises six CEDDs to manage the progression of
 compounds in the "middle" of the pipeline. While drawing from the broader
 resources of the organization, the CEDDs bridge the conventional gap between
 discovery and development. They bring together scientists and physicians who
 concentrate on specific disease groupings, as follows: cardiovascular and
 urogenital diseases; metabolic and viral diseases; microbial, musculoskeletal,
 and proliferative diseases (cancer); neurological and gastrointestinal
 diseases; psychiatric diseases; and respiratory and inflammatory diseases.
     GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:   GSK), one of the world's leading research-based
 pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, is committed to improving the quality
 of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For
 more information, please visit the company's web site at www.gsk.com .
 
 

SOURCE  GlaxoSmithKline