LONDON (Alliance News) - GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday it will invest over USD95 million in cash and other resources over five years to launch a new research institute in Seattle, Washington, to be called the Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences.
The institute will focus on "pioneering new technologies and approaches for decoding how genes are controlled and how a cell?s 'operating system' functions in health and disease."
Altius is expected to attract funding from public and other sources, Glaxo said. The institute will be wholly independent from Glaxo, and will have its own management, board of directors and external advisors. It will be headed by John Stamatoyannopoulos.
However, Glaxo has retained first rights to option the institute's inventions and invest in the commercialisation of its discoveries through spin-out companies.
Shares in GlaxoSmithKline are trading up 0.1% at 1,367.15 pence Wednesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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