Biologists who developed cancer-treating drug to receive £30m in funding

Biology researchers who developed a drug to treat skin cancer are to receive almost £30m in funding in order to help treat even more diseases.

The research unit, based at the University of Dundee, was awarded the funding by the UK Government on Thursday, which will allow them to continue their work for another five years.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (PPR) has been a part of the development and clinical approval of more than 40 drugs, and it is hoped that improving the understanding of the processes within cells could be the basis for treating Parkinson’s to Crohn’s and Coeliac disease.

Their work has already delivered a drug that is now widely used to treat melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, and they have also helped to develop a new drug to treat Parkinson’s disease, which is currently undergoing clinical trials.

The 200-strong scientific staff and students at the university are now using modern technology and biochemistry to explore how signals within the body’s cells are transmitted.

It will receive the funding, allocated by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to bolster its studies in cell biology

Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “As we embark on a decade of national renewal, the higher education sector has a profound role to play in every piece of work we’ll need to do, to build a Britain that delivers for working people: from seizing the potential of clean energy to rebuilding the NHS.

“I will always champion our universities. They are society’s most powerful engines for innovation, aspiration, economic growth and the creation of better lives for all – which is why investing in their work, like this £30 million in funding, is so important.”

Science minister Lord Vallance told the PA news agency the research is “deeply impressive”.

He said: “I don’t know what they’re going to discover, but that’s the whole point.

“They’re going to discover new things that can’t be predicted and they are going to do that in a way that’s high quality and accessible for others to see.”

Lord Vallance added: “They’re a very high-quality team, they track some of the best researchers to come to the University of Dundee.

“And, of course, because of what they discover and the way they make it available to the industry, there’s also an important economic benefit.

“They create growth and they create wealth creation, so I think it’s a pretty impressive set-up they’ve got in Dundee.”

He said how cells communicate is a “fundamental question about what goes wrong” in terms of disease.

“This unit has been at the forefront of trying to understand that by looking at proteins and how proteins are modified,” he said.

“So it is carrying messages that have led to the identification of new ways of treating diseases.

“It has been used for Parkinson’s disease, it’s been used for cancers, it’s going to be important in other diseases in future.”

The new drug for Parkinson’s, created alongside partner organisations, is currently undergoing clinical trials.

Professor Patrick Chinnery, executive chairman of the MRC, said: “The MRC are proud to be investing for a further five years in the exceptional research of the MRC PPU in Dundee.

“They are leaders in conducting rigorous fundamental research and then working with industry to translate those breakthroughs for patient benefit.

“The MRC PPU have an outstanding culture of collaboration and sharing their leading research expertise, products and techniques with the wider scientific community.”