Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly opened a new state-of-the-art biotechnology center in San Diego, part of an ongoing effort by the drugmaker to transform itself into a biotech titan. The move follows a relocation of its Imclone headquarters to a new biopharmaceutical research cluster in New York and construction of its biotechnology research and development complex at company headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana a year ago.

 

Lilly's latest biotechnology center is located within an extensive hub of life science activity near the University of California, San Diego and other prominent biomedical research institutes, which the company says is consistent with its strategy to leverage external resources and knowledge to advance its pipeline.

 

“We are moving full speed ahead toward building a biotechnology powerhouse,” says John Lechleiter, chairman and CEO of Lilly. “The science, technology and talent at our new center in San Diego will help bring novel biotech medicines to patients faster and more efficiently.”

 

About half of the company’s mid- to late-stage pipeline now consists of biologics-potential medicines for a range of diseases, including diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, musculoskeletal disorders and Alzheimer's disease, according to Steve Paul, executive vice president, science and technology, and president, Lilly Research Laboratories.

 

Of the nearly 200 scientists based at the center, more than half are from Applied Molecular Evolution, a wholly-owned subsidiary that discovers, engineers and develops therapies built specifically from human proteins. Additionally, the center is the work base for scientists from discovery chemistry research and technology, a division within Lilly that includes scientists from what was previously known as SGX Pharmaceuticals. Lilly acquired SGX in 2008.

 

At the new San Diego biotechnology facility, the scientists from Applied Molecular Evolution and the discovery chemistry research and technology division are drawing on each other's expertise, the company says. Work at the new biotechnology center is mostly focused on discovering, engineering and conducting phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials on experimental biologic medicines, with an emphasis on cancer, diabetes and autoimmune diseases.

 

“We are optimizing the synergies between AME and DCRT-San Diego by co-locating them,” said Tom Bumol, vice president of biotechnology discovery research at Lilly and head of the new West Coast site. “We in the scientific community have only scratched the surface of what is possible for biologic drug design, and collaborations such as this taking place at our new center will help lead to the next generation of biotechnology-based treatments for patients.”