The Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation

Monday 15th March, 2004 University in Drug Breakthrough

The University of Bradford’s Institute for Pharmaceutical Innovation is developing computer technology which predicts how drugs will behave in the body.

Scientists hope it will dramatically cut the time and expense involved in developing new drugs by eliminating unnecessary experiments.

Developing a new drug takes about 15 years and costs up to 500m. Although work is at an early stage, Dr Frank Leusen, a senior scientist at the institute, believes the process could save drug companies 3m a month once it is fully operational.

The 6m institute, which opened in October, is hosting an international conference next month which will examine the way computers can help drug research.

The institute’s computer system simulates the toxicity of drugs and measures the impact on the body. If the computer reveals that the toxicity level is too high, then the drug or compound is scrapped without wasting time on other experiments, such as tests on animals.

Dr Leusen said: “A big problem is that fewer and fewer new drugs are coming into the pipeline. The institute aims to develop methods to help accelerate the drug development process and maybe to improve the formulation of existing products.

“By using computer simulation it is, in principle, possible to focus on experiments that are really necessary and to do away with experiments that are not so essential.”
Dr Leusen said the techniques being developed at the institute could reduce the number of drug research experiments carried out on animals.

However, he said some tests on animals would always be needed.
He said: “If the first tests were in the human body, people wouldn’t be happy. There would be a much bigger public outcry if that was the case.”
He added: “We are not involved in finding new cures it’s supporting new and better ways to formulate the drugs.

“We are not doing that right now. It’s not something you can turn around in a few weeks or months. By the end of the year it should be fully operational.
“We think we will make some progress, but there are no guarantees. I would be very disappointed if 10 years down the line, we hadn’t made some impact.”
The process could have other applications, such as developing low fat chocolate to tackle childhood obesity or longer-lasting paint.

The two-day international meeting starts on Monday, April 26 and includes speakers from the US, the Netherlands and Italy alongside leading scientists from the UK.
The conference, in partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry Molecular Modelling Group, is sponsored by Yorkshire Forward, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb.