LifeArc
 | |
| Company type | Charity Commission for England and Wales |
|---|---|
| Industry | Life science medical research charity |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Fate | Renamed LifeArc in 2017 |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | London, Stevenage, Edinburgh |
Key people |
|
| Services | IP management, drug discovery, diagnostics development, antibody engineering, charity portfolio review |
| Revenue |
|
Number of employees | 180 |
| Website | lifearc |
LifeArc is a British life science medical research charity.[1] It was established in 2000 as MRC Technology to translate the work of UK Medical Research Council (MRC) research scientists.[2]
Today, LifeArc provides intellectual property identification, protection and commercialisation, technology development, diagnostic development, early stage drug discovery and antibody humanization services for academic, biotechnological and pharmaceutical organisations. Profits from LifeArc's activities are reinvested into further research.
History
The organisation was set up as a charity and a company limited by guarantee in 2000 to incorporate patenting, licensing and research functions.[3]
LifeArc humanised a number of antibodies on behalf of other organisations. Four of these, Tysabri (Biogen Idec/Elan), Actemra (Hoffmann-La Roche/Chugai), Entyvio (Millenium Pharma/Takeda) and Keytruda (Merck/MSD), are licensed drugs.[4][failed verification]
In 2010, LifeArc signed a deal with the drug company AstraZeneca to share chemical compounds to help identify potential treatments for serious diseases.[5][6]
LifeArc is a member of a Global Drug Discovery Alliance along with the Centre for Drug Research and Development, the Scripps Research Institute, Cancer Research Technology, the Lead Discovery Centre and the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery.[7] Through its earnings from licensing agreements, LifeArc provides funding for academic research and early-stage medical research.[8]
In March 2019, LifeArc joined with Cancer Research UK and Ono Pharma to progress new immunotherapy drug targets for cancer.[9]
In May 2019, LifeArc announced it had sold part of its royalty rights for Keytruda to a subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for US$1.297 billion, making it one of the biggest UK medical charities by size of investment.[10]
The charity claims that it has found a new approach for treating Alzheimer's disease in research carried out with the Universities of Leicester and Göttingen.[11]
References
- ^ "LifeArc, registered charity no. 1015243". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
- ^ Paul Feldman, Corinna Lotz, A world to win: a rough guide to a future without global capitalism, 2004, Lupus Books, ISBN 0952345412, 9780952345411
- ^ Sir David Cooksey (12 January 2006). "A Review of UK Health Funding" (PDF). The Stationery Office. p. 20.
- ^ "Therapeutic Antibodies and the LMB". MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
- ^ Mark Wigglesworth, Terry Wood, eds, Management of Chemical and Biological Samples for Screening Applications, 2012, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 3527645276, 9783527645275, google books
- ^ "AstraZeneca and MRC Technology Form Strategic Alliance in Discovery Research, Utilising Shared Compound Libraries". AstraZeneca. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
- ^ Edelson, Steve (2013). "Translational Globetrotting". SciBX: Science-Business eXchange. 6 (4): 78. doi:10.1038/scibx.2013.78.
- ^ "Stevenage BioScience Catalyst | LifeArc set to transform medical research landscape |". www.stevenagecatalyst.com. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
- ^ "Cancer Research UK, LifeArc and Ono Pharma form cancer therapy alliance". Hospital Healthcare Europe. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
- ^ "LifeArc monetises Keytruda® royalty interests to fund further research and investment". LifeArc. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ "New Alzheimer's treatment hailed by researchers". BBC News. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
