Scientists from global biopharmaceutical company MSD will come to the Crick next year to tackle a range of conditions associated with ageing such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
A new team of around 15 MSD chemists and pharmacologists will be based at the Crick over the next five years, working to develop new understandings of diseases that affect the UK’s ageing population.
The scientists will be based at the Crick while MSD establishes their new discovery science centre and UK headquarters in London, the location of which is being finalised. Their work will complement the MSD neuroscience cell biology team already established at the London Bioscience Innovation Centre, and both teams will eventually move to MSD’s new centre.
Although the MSD research projects will be independent from Crick research, the mix of fundamental researchers and drug discovery scientists will benefit both MSD and Crick scientists. The MSD team will be fully integrated into the Crick scientific community, and will be invited to attend and deliver lectures to discuss the latest methods and discoveries.
Richard Treisman, Director of Research at the Crick, said: “We look forward to welcoming our new MSD colleagues to the Crick. Their specialist expertise in both fundamental research and drug discovery science, coupled with their industry perspective, will open new horizons for Crick scientists and vice versa.”
Fiona Marshall, Vice President and Head of Discovery Science at MSD UK said: “This is an exciting opportunity for our team who will be based in the Francis Crick Institute. We are at one of the most challenging yet exciting times in which innovative science and R&D may one day delay or even halt the onset of neurodegenerative diseases. The Crick is a world leading centre for discovery science in the UK and the co-location places us in excellent proximity to initiate broad ranging research interactions with Crick scientists in basic biology of mutual interest through to translational research to help us continue to build on our proud legacy of invention.”
