Minister launches public-private imaging centre

Research facility co-owned by Imperial is formally launched by David Willetts MP - News

Adapted from a news release issued by Imanova

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Imanova, a new state-of-the-art imaging centre co-owned by the Medical Research Council and three of London’s leading universities, has been formally launched at a showcase event attended by representatives from the founding organisations and Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science.

Imanova is a pioneering public-private collaboration formed by the Medical Research Council, Kings College London, UCL (University College London) and Imperial College London. From a site established and previously run by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, Imanova now plans to become an internationally renowned imaging centre and partner of choice for industry and academia looking to use its world-class imaging facilities.

With both PET and MRI scanning in the same centre, Imanova is unique in the UK. This allows researchers to image not only the activity of a medicine in the body, but also its effect on the body systems being studied. As a result researchers can see at an early stage if an investigational medicine is being effective, and discontinue development if it is not. These facilities will help to catalyse translational research, and offer the potential to significantly shorten drug development times.

During his speech at the launch, Kevin Cox, Imanova CEO, explained the concept of Imanova and the impact they are having:

“This is a novel collaboration, both between leading academic institutions and between academia and industry, which has been set up to act as a catalyst across the innovation pipeline. Our aim is to accelerate the translation of great science into clinically and commercially relevant products and services.

“For example, we are currently introducing a new biomarker for schizophrenia to help in novel drug discovery. In oncology we’re implementing novel imaging probes to measure key disease pathways, such as angiogenesis and apoptosis, which will provide invaluable information for the development of new anticancer drugs. This could transform drug discovery in these diseases.”

David Willetts inspects brain scans at Imanova

David Willetts MP highlighted the Government’s support for the collaborative approach that Imanova is pioneering: “The Government’s life sciences strategy underlined the importance of collaboration between the research base and industry as a means of driving growth and innovation. Imanova is an excellent example of this. It brings together leading academics and businesses to accelerate drug discovery and development, and is also attracting overseas investment.”