GSK Expands Open-Source Research Project In TB

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has screened its entire pharmaceutical compound library of more two million compounds and identified about 200 hits with potential against tuberculosis (TB), which it will make available to external research teams as part of its drive towards an 'open innovation' approach to R&D.

GSK said this is the first time a pharmaceutical company has made public its own proprietary compounds which have demonstrated signs of activity against TB.

And in yet another shift from the closed model of drug discovery traditionally pursued by pharma companies, GSK said it would double investment in its Tres Cantos Open Lab in Spain, which was set up in 2010 to allow independent researchers access to GSK facilities and expertise.